Persona Kagura: The Fallen Messiah
by Godzilla Boy
Summary: In order to protect the people he cared about, he sacrifice his own life and became the Great Seal between Nyx and humanity. However, when Minato Arisato awakens in a new world under mysterious circumstances, he must uncover the reason behind his rebirth and fight his way through an all new assortment of enemies alongside new allies and prove why he is called "the Messiah".
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3 or Senran Kagura!**

 **Hello, hello everybody! Today I am proud to announce my new story:** ** _Persona Kagura: The Fallen Messiah!_ I first announced this story in the the opening comments of Chapter 8 of _Monsters and Devils._** **Now I know what some of you might be thinking, "Godzilla Boy, what made you decide to do this kind of crossover?" Well, to be honest, it just suddenly popped into my head one night when found myself watching an episode of the Senran Kagura anime and then not long after that I was reading another crossover involving Persona 3 and then it suddenly just came to me. I also became inspired after reading _The Crimson Lords'_ story, _A Demon Among Devils._**

 **To be completely honest with you all, Persona 3 is probably my favorite game in the Persona Series. I know that Persona 4 and 5 are also really good and I also like them, but for some reason, there's something about Persona 3 that has always made it different from the other games in the series. Plus, I'm a huge Minato Arisato fan, he's by far my favorite silent protagonist in the series. I made this story for all you Persona and Senran Kagura fans who read my other two stories and many more who probably enjoy reading random crossovers like this and I hope you all come to enjoy it. Now, for this story, I will be adding a few scenes from the Persona 3 Movie quadrilogy that you might be able to catch if you have seen the movies, but if you haven't seen them, I recommend that you totally should!**

 **This story will once again follow Minato Arisato as he finds himself involved in a conflict he never thought he would be a part of and more as he fights alongside the shinobi of Hanzo Acadamy.**

 **Remember, please leave a review and constructive criticism behind if you spot any problems with the chapter and I will try to go back and fix them if I can.**

 **Now, without further delay, let us begin!**

 **(Play Burn My Dread -Spring of Birth ver.- as the opening theme)**

* * *

 _"Memento Mori. Remember you will die. Remember your death."_

 _-Persona 3 intro_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: New Beginnings**

He was not sure how it had all happened. One moment, he was protecting the Great Seal, sealed in stone with his mind drifting in the vast void of nothingness. Then the next thing he knew he was here, in Asakusa, Tokyo. Alive, breathing, and really confused.

At first, he had assumed that Elizabeth must have had something to do with it, that she had finally found a way for him to live once again. However, when he tried to search for her, he could find no trace of her; the location of the Velvet Room had seemed to refuse to disclose its location to him. He searched for the others, but like Elizabeth, they also vanished, as if they had never even existed. Not even the Kirijo Group, Mitsuru's congealment, existed, and that had troubled him the most. People could disappear, but not a multi-billion dollar company that spanned to nearly every country.

The ugly truth had come to him eventually. He steadily came to realize and accept the fact that the world that had known, the world that had given his life to protect, no longer existed. No one could easily forget the Dark Hour, the never-ending levels of Tartarus that he had climbed, the many faces of Nyx as he ascended to battle her. He sometimes wondered if it was all just a long, elaborate dream at first, that he would wake up and he would be back in the Great Seal.

But that idea shattered when he heard _them_ , the voices of those who represented the bonds that he had forged with those back in his world.

They were the only proof that he had. They were the only evidence that reminded him of who he was, _what_ he had been, and he clung to them as tightly as he could.

Still, life had to go on. He eventually decided to settle in this world that he had been brought to, believing that there must have been some sort of task that he was meant to accomplish before he could go back, or maybe even a test of some sorts set up by fate. After staying for almost two months with no results, he eventually resorted to working odd jobs to support himself and eventually earned enough to rent a small apartment. But now with his basic needs met, all that was left now was boredom. He needed something to keep his mind off of the past, or else he may whined up falling into depression.

He eventually solved that problem by attending a local high school, a place called Hanzō National Academy. Despite the fact that the material presented to him was almost word-for-word similar to what he had been taught in Gekkoukan High, he still enjoyed the distraction. Attending this school brought a sense of normalcy with the familiar chatter of students and the buzz of everyday activities.

Yet with all of these distractions, he would still found himself thinking of his friends in SEES every now and then. Thinking back to everything they had been through, all of the battles against Shadows and exploring Tartarus as well as tackling personal problems, he began to feel a sense of loneliness.

The only company he could ever find was in the voices from within his subconscious, and the only place to go to relax being the school library, with his headphones on and a book in front of him, listening to the same track as the sun went down.

* * *

Asuka was finally on her way home.

After being sent away from Hanzō to complete a special test, she quickly hopped on the next ferry boat back to Asakusa, but not before paying her grandfather a quick visit. She had been gone for a few months now, and she was eager to get back home to tell her friends about how her test went. As she looked out at the late morning sun and rippling waves from the bow of the ship with a bright smile, she began to noticed building around the side of the canal.

Asuka's smile got wider as rushed to the the other side of the ships bow, staring up at the towering skyscrapers and buildings. "Asakusa! I'm finally back! This really is a blast from the past! Ah, this beautiful scenery!"

"Beautiful, huh?"

Asuka turned towards the source of the new voice and saw another girl approaching her. She had tan skin and dark brown hair similar to Asuka, only in was long and tied in a pony tail and her eyes were green in color. She was dressed in a black sailor fuka with red trim and loose white socks.

"Are you from Asakusa?" she asked, making Asuka blink with slight confusion. "You said you were finally back."

Asuka realized what she meant and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, you were listening in?"

"More like I had no choice in the matter." she replied in a friendly, playful manner.

Asuka jumped up nervously upon realizing that she had indeed heard her and decided to explain. "I'm going to school in Asakusa and I live in a dorm, but I had to leave for a while because stuff happened, and coming back here brought back memories, so I accidentally blurted out loud." She then bowed her head in apology. "I-I'm sorry about that!"

The girl on the other hand, gave a short laugh before turning around and walking back to the way she came. "You're an interesting one." she said while giving a short wave goodbye.

Asuka looked up as she watched the girl walk away, slightly tilting her head in confusion. "What school's she from?"

* * *

Minato was not in a particularly chipper mood this morning, though to be frank, he rarely ever was.

After working two night shifts in a row the last two day, he barely got any sleep last night and almost overslept. After eating a quick breakfast, he gathered his supplies into his book bag and started down his usual route to Hanzō Academy.

It had been over a month since he enrolled in the school now, and nearly three since he first showed up to this new world. Despite how unfamiliar he had been with the layout when he first arrived, he began to feel a sense of tranquility in the cities' peace. It was slowly yet steadily beginning to grow on him. Without having to constantly worry about exploring the Dark Hour or hunting down the Arcana Shadows every full moon, he was beginning to appreciate the city life once again since his year-long stay in Iwatodai before.

Even so, Minato missed the city where he met his friends and even missed all of the fun adventures that they had climbing the endless floors of Tartarus. Before moving there, he had been a much different person. Cold, distant, quiet, and also quite apathetic. However, after meeting the people who would become his friends and fellow SEES members, he felt a change grow in him. He was never bored when they were around and he eventually began to open up more to them little by little.

He almost went back to his cold, distant self after Ikutski betrayed them and attempted to use SEES as sacrifices to Nyx, and also after his close friend, Ryoji, revealed himself as the Appriser of Nyx and the harbinger of the Fall. After that incident, the others almost became like him as well when the thought of their lives coming to an end made them go nearly apathetic and it was only with Elizabeth's help that he was eventually able to obtain the Answer to Life and steer them back onto the right path.

Yes, he missed his friends dearly. He wondered if they were still living their lives as best as they could over in their world as they had promised to him.

His thoughts were then shattered when he felt someone bump into his back, making him stumble forward slightly and snapping him awake. Minato managed to catch himself before he could fall on his face, but he then heard a soft "Kyaa!" and turned to find a girl lying the ground rubbing her back.

She had short brown hair that was tied in a pony tail with white ribbon and matching brown eyes. She was dressed in the traditional Hanzō Academy girls uniform, which was a simple white button-up shirt with a light blue skirt, though she also a red scarf wrapped around her neck.

It seemed that she had probably accidentally bumped into him and had also fallen in the process. Walking towards the girl, Minato knelt down and offered his hand.

"You need help?"

The girl looked up at him and he could almost immediately see the slight blush on her face as she simply stared into his eyes, as if she were lost in them.

It was slightly creeping him out.

"...Are you okay?" he asked.

She seemed to finally snap out of her trance after he had said that and took his hand, though she still seemed to blush upon contact. "Th-thank you. I-I'm sorry for almost tripping you! I was just so excited to be back here that I wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's fine." Minato then looked down at her uniform. "Are you also a student at Hanzō? I don't think I've seen you before."

The girl scratched the back of her head while smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, I was away for a while and I just got back, so it felt really nostalgic being home. Are you a new student as well?"

He simply nodded in response. The girls eyes then widened for a brief moment. "Oh, what am I doing?! I never introduced myself. My names Asuka. I'm a second-year at Hanzō Academy. What about you?"

"Minato Arisato." he replied. "Also a second-year."

The girl, Asuka, smiled. "Minato-kun, huh? Well, it's really nice to meet you. I'll see you around!" With that, Asuka sprinted down the road towards the school as Minato watched her leave.

What a strange girl.

* * *

Asuka just barely made it on time. After managing to dodge some boys at the school entrance and sneaking into the old school building located just on the edge of campus, she looked around to make sure that no one was watching before sneaking through the hidden door in the wall, where she then found herself in the schools' shinobi hideout.

A shinobi, that's what Asuka really was. In ancient times, shinobi were agents who served under the Feudal Lords of Japan. Back then, they worked as professional spies, saboteurs, and assassins. However, after the influx of western culture that resulted in the collapse of the feudal system, they eventually faded from the public consciousness.

Despite this, shinobi still exist even in the modern times, with their employers mostly being politicians and corporations. However, Asuka was still under training to become a first-rank shinobi just like her grandfather Hanzō, who her school just so happened to be named after. Very few are aware that a select few students in their school were secretly shinobi, and they made sure that it would remain a secret.

Upon entering the hideout, Asuka noticed another girl around her age with long black hair calming drinking tea at a nearby table. The girl looked up and immediately noticed her. "Welcome back."

Asuka smiled and bowed her head. "Ikaruga-san, Asuka reporting for duty!"

"I would commend you on shaking off those boys..." the girl, Ikaruga, began.

Asuka looked up at Ikaruga with slight surprise. "You saw that?"

"But they shouldn't have noticed you in the first place." she finished with a slight look of disapproval. "I can't believe you ran here straight from the school gate."

Yep, classic Ikaruga. Good to know that she was still as strict as ever. Asuka wasn't sure if she should see that as a good thing or a bad thing.

"I've been gone for while, so I got carried away." she defended while sheepishly scratching the back of her head.

After taking another sip of her tea, Ikaruga turned back to her with a serious look. "Remember that we're not normal students. You lack even the basics."

Asuka gave a despondent sigh. "Sorry..."

"Why so down? It's not like you, Asuka."

The brown haired girl gave a slight shriek when felt a pair of hands reach around from behind her and grope her... ahem, "assets".

"Katsu-nee!" Asuka exclaimed, recognizing who the voice belonged to. Once she was able to release herself from the hands, she turned around to see another girl with long blond hair held by a blue ribbon and bright green eyes. "Jeez! Once I let my guard down, you're all over me!"

"Why shouldn't I? It's not like your breasts will shrink." Katsuragi gave off a lecherous grin while flexing her fingers, as if preparing to grope her again. "Or maybe they'll get bigger from it!"

Asuka raised an arm to cover her bust. "No! I want them smaller, not bigger!"

"Really?" Katsuragi tilted her head to the side. "That'd be such a waste."

"No it wouldn't!" Asuka retorted.

Suddenly, a scream followed by a crash caused both girls to quickly turn to the entrance from where Asuka had entered just earlier. A girl with short, bright pink hair with three black ribbons that tied it into twin-tails and light blue eyes with strange pink, flower-shaped pupils was lying on the ground with strewn pieces of candy and other treats on the ground around her. There was even a spilled plastic cup on her head that slightly drenched her hair.

"Ow! That hurt!" she whined as she removed the cup from her hair and started dusting herself off.

Katsuragi sighed as she watched the new girl get on her knees to wipe herself off. "You're already spacing out this early, Hibari?"

Hibari just smiled up at her, almost forgetting about the pain she was in. "I thought school started already, so I came here in a hurry, but I got carried away by my own speed." She then noticed Asuka and her smile brightened. "Hey, Asuka-chan, welcome back!"

Asuka smiled back. "I'm back, Hibari-chan!"

"You passed the promotion exam, right?" Hibari asked as she stood up. When Asuka nodded in response, she clapped her hands together happily. "That's great to hear!"

"Thanks!" Asuka beamed.

"Hibari," a new voice began, "before you congratulate others, you should first make some progress yourself."

The trio turned to see yet another girl sitting against the wall while gazing out of a window. She had long white hair that was tied into long twin-tails and went down to below her waist, brownish red eyes, and had a brown leather eye patch that covered her right eye. She even had what looked like a squid tentacle sticking out of her mouth.

Hibari smiled at the new girl, not looking surprise in the slightest by her sudden appearance. "That's all right. I didn't pull it off myself, but I'm still happy about it!"

Unlike Hibari, Asuka looked towards the white-haired girl with surprise. "Yagyū-chan, when did you get here?"

Yagyū turned towards her. "Concealing one's presence is a basic shinobi skill."

"Right..." Asuka laughed with another sheepish smile.

Katsuragi sighed as she smiled playfully. "Jeez, I can't tell which one's the upperclassman here."

Asuka smiled back at her. "Yagyū-chan has a higher rank despite being a freshman, though."

"She's a genius, after all!" Hibari beamed.

Suddenly, a burst of smoke enveloped the room, making the girls cover they faces and cough as it hit them. Once the smoke cleared, they saw a older gentleman standing before them with wavy gray hair and auburn colored eyes.

The man smiled as he adjusted his black suit and eyed the girls in front of him. "Everyone's here, correct?"

Ikaruga got up from her seat and stood with the other girls as they bowed their heads to him in greeting. "Kiriya-sensei, good morning."

Kiriya turned his attention to a certain brown haired girl. "Asuka."

"Y-yes, sir!" she said as she stood up straighter.

Her teacher gave her a soft smile. "Good work."

Asuka gave a bashful smile in response. "Oh, t-thank you for the praise."

Kiriya then pulled out a folder and opened before skimming through its contents. "Let's see... Used Molting Cicada seconds before the scroll was taken. Damaged her shinobi costume in the process. Used smoke bombs in an urban area. Had almost no time left."

Each time Kiriya spoke, Asuka felt her spirits slowly begin to dwindle as she stared give her teacher an increasingly growing deponent look. Kiriya's expression then slightly brightened at one particular detail.

"Ho, now this is impressive." he said, making Asuka snap from her stupor. "Your score perfectly matches the passing mark. That's not something one can do on purpose."

"Don't get excited about silly things!" Asuka pouted.

Kiriya simply smiled as he closed the folder. "Well, you passed, and that's what counts. Continue to train hard."

Asuka smiled back and nodded. "Of course!"

"We'll spend today's first period practicing hand-to-hand combat." Kiriya explained. "Everyone get changed and gather in the training hall."

With that, Kiriya disappeared within another puff of smoke, causing the girls minus Yagyū and Ikaruga to start coughing again when the smoke hit their faces.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the main campus, Minato was doing everything in his power to soldier through his classes without snoozing off. He would feel his eyelids get heavy and he would doze off now and then, but was able to make it through most of his classes without collapsing on his desk. Thankfully, the lunch period was drawing closer, so he would have the time to rest and relax from his exhaustion.

Right now, he was in the middle of history class, but it was interesting to say the least. Like most of his other teachers, Mr. Nakajima seemed to go out on tangents when lecturing and tending to ask multiple choice questions to random students about what they just talked about or even things completely unrelated to their own subjects. Mr. Nakajima however, seemed to stick closely to his own subject more than the other teachers though.

"Lets see... who to pick... how about you, Takahashi?" Mr. Nakajima asked as he pointed to Eito Takahashi, the brown-haired, brown-eyed boy seated in front of Minato. "Which period in history did Japanese adopt the name, 'Semgoku' from? The Hundred Years War, The Warring States Period, or the Black Death?"

"Umm... I think it was..." Eito began, but it seemed that he was unsure of the answer.

"Warring States." Minato whispered from behind his book.

"The Warring States?"

Nakajima smiled and nodded before returning his attention to the white board. "Correct! Now the Sengoku period is well known as the period before Japan was unified under the Tokugawa shogunate. Besides Daimyo Tokugawa Ieyasu, there were two other Daimyo vying for power and control during that time, Oda Nobunage and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Frankly, it reminds me a lot of the Three Kingdoms era of China, but we'll leave that for another time..."

"Thank you." Eito whispered as he turned his head around before turning his attention back to the white board."

"Any time."

* * *

When the lunch bell rang, almost all of the students got up and gathered their things before making their way out of the room to the cafeteria. Minato was in the middle of gathering his own things when two students, a male and a female, approached him.

"Hey, thanks for the save earlier Arisato." Eito said with a smile. "Had I gotten that question wrong, I would have been humiliated."

"That's because you're always busy spending time at the arcade after school when you could be using that time to study." the female student lightly chided.

Eito turned and glared at the girl. "Well excuse me for not being as smart as you, Kazuyo."

The female student, Kazuyo Agaki, a bespectacled girl with black hair cut into a short bob cut and bright green eyes, simply ignored him and turned to Minato. "Still though, Mr. Nakajima and his samurai, huh? I'm just amazed that he hasn't started walking around with an old-fashioned helmet on his head. Can you just imagine someone, much less a teacher, doing that?"

"I can." Eito said while looking like he was trying to keep himself from laughing. "And it cracks me up thinking about it."

"So, Arisato-kun, are you doing anything after school today?" Kazuyo asked.

Minato shook his head. "Not really."

Kazuyo smiled. "Then you should come over to my place and study. We still have that test coming up next week."

"Oh, come on, give the guy a break!" Eito cut in. "We still have a week before the test. Lets just kick back and relax a little before cramming your head with stuff." He then broke out into a mischievous smile. "Besides, it's obvious you just want to have him over for more than just 'studying',"

The girl's face instantly blushed as she gave Eito a look of shock. "W-w-what are you talking about?! I would never do something so indecent!"

"Funny." Eito replied with a smirk. "I never implied that you were going to do anything 'indecent' to him."

By now, Kazuyo's face was as red as a tomato. "S-s-shut up, y-you jerk!"

Minato slightly shook his head with mirth before he began to continue to put his books away into his bag. Suddenly, he grunted when he felt a sudden migraine rush through his skull, forcing him to put one hand on the side of his head.

Minato hissed as he tried to stand from his seat, only to stumble slightly and force his free hand onto his desk to balance himself. Eito and Kazuyo ceased their argument and turned to the blue-haired with concern.

"Whoa, are you alright, Arisato?" Eito asked.

"Just... a little dizzy." he replied while holding his head.

"You should go see the nurse." Kazuyo suggested. "Then maybe head home if it's that bad."

Minato simply nodded as he stared towards the door, though Eito and Kazuyo helped him by carrying him by under his arms to help him down the hall towards the nurses office.

* * *

After nearly a half hour of training, the five girls were feeling quite exhausted and were currently sitting around the living area of their secret base.

Katsuragi laughed as she finished chugging down her cup of iced tea. "I ruled that fight!"

"I wouldn't have lost if we'd used swords." Ikaruga said as she looked away.

The blond gave her a grin. "Look at the loser making excuses."

Ikaruga's eyes widened as she turned to her with a defensive look. "I-I'm not!" Her response only served to make Katsuragi laugh again.

She then stretched her arm to get the kinks out. "Anyway, what should we have for lunch today?"

"I'm getting sick of ordering out." Ikaruga commented.

"Attention!" The girls turned to see Asuka with her bento box on her lap. "I brought these from back my trip!"

When she opened her bento box, the other girls were pleasantly surprised. "Whoa, rolls!" Hibari exclaimed happily.

"They look delicious!" Katsuragi beamed with excitement.

Ikaruga smiled. "And now I know what's for lunch."

The other girls kindly took each futomaki roll that Asuka offered them and happily bit into them while humming happily. After finishing taking a bite, Ikaruga turned to the brunette. "Asuka, where'd you get these?"

Asuka smiled as she sat beside Hibari and Katsuragi. "You see, I spent the night at home yesterday."

"Oh right, your family runs a sushi restaurant."

"Yep!" Asuka nodded as she took another bite of her role, only for Katsuragi to sneak up behind her and once again reach her hands up under her shirt and grope her breasts once again.

"All right! I'll rub these a lot as thanks for the food!"

Asuka's cries of protest were muffled by the roll she still had in her mouth, but thankfully help came when Kiriya appeared in yet another burst of smoke that filled the room. Kiriya looked down and noticed the food that his students were eating.

"Oh, rolls." he said in a low voice with an intense look in his eyes.

"Yeah! *cough cough* Have one, Kiriya-sensei." Asuka offered while holding her bento box out to him.

"Thank you." Kiriya smiled as he accepted her offer and took a roll from her box. After taking a bite of his roll, he sat down with the girls. "So, is Hanzō-sama well?"

Asuka nodded. "Yeah, thanks to you. My Grandpa actually woke up extra early to make these rolls!"

Kiriya smiled. "I see. He hasn't changed a bit." Then, his expression quickly changed to be serious. "Now that Asuka's back, you'll complete a mission outside school premise this afternoon."

"Outside school premise?" Asuka questioned with slight confusion.

"Yeah! Finally, a real mission!" Katsuragi exclaimed while pumping her fist with excitement before standing up. "All we've been doing lately is flying, jumping, and meditating. Just boring training sessions in a stuffy basement. So, Teach, what's the mission?!"

"Wiping out the ruffians in the shopping district."

Almost immediately, Katsuragi's expression dropped like a stone.

"Delinquent students have made it their hangout, and the authorities apparently can't handle them." Kiriya explained.

"Taking out delinquents..." Asuka repeatec as she and Kasturagi exchanged glances.

Hibari fidgeted in place with a nervous expression. "I'm afraid of troublemakers."

"Don't worry." Yagyū said from her spot near the wall. "I'll protect you."

The pinkette smiled in response and nodded. "Thanks!"

* * *

Minato's eyes slowly opened and the first thing that he realized was that he was no longer at school, but instead was seated in a place that resembled an elevator that seemed to ascend forever. There was also a dial located at the top of a large gate that continued to spin almost endlessly.

The last thing he noticed was that the inside of the elevator was very, very _blue._

His eyes slowly widened when he felt old memories begin to surface as he observed the room. He remembered it.

"This is..."

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Minato turned his gaze towards the gate and saw an elderly-looking man with white hair and dressed in a black suit with white gloves sitting on a couch located behind a round table that stood between himself and the boy. He had a rather bizarre appearance, with a very long pointed nose, bulging bloodshot eyes, and pointed ears.

He also noticed two female figures standing on either side of the elderly man, both holding a large tomb under their arm. The one standing to the man's left had short white hair that was styled in a bob cut, yellow eyes, and wore a blue dress that resembled a stewardess' outfit. The dress was complete with five black-lined circles outside small yellow circles, blue gloves, a blue attendant-like hat, black legging and blue, knee-length boots.

The second woman to his right seemed slightly older and more mature than the other girl. She had platinum-blonde hair, pale skin, and yellow eyes just like the other woman. She wore an entirely dark blue dress with black and gold accessories and matching high heel shoes. Minato turned his attention back towards the elderly man on the couch, feeling a strange sense of comfort at seeing a familiar face.

"Igor." he said in a low tone.

The old man, Igor, flashed his traditional grin. "Ah, it is so nice to see you again, young man. To think that only three years have past since we last spoke to each other like this. My, how fast time can pass."

"I don't understand." Minato said. "How are you here? I thought this was supposed to be a different world than mine."

"This is a room that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." Igor replied. "It matters not if one travels through space and time itself, so long as there is consciousness and unconsciousness, the Velvet Room will always exist."

Minato though still had more questions that he needed to ask. "But I tried to search for this place when I first got here. No matter where I looked though, I couldn't find the entrance."

Igor continued to grin. "Because you have just recently opened a new contract."

The boy could only blink at the man with confusion. "...I what?"

"It would seem that although our last contract was fulfilled, you have now been bound to a new one in this new world. It is a sign that you will embark on a journey unlike your last one." Igor explained.

"Are you saying that I'll be faced with something different from Shadows or the Dark Hour?"

Igor nodded. "Correct. In this world, a much different power rules over it, though it seems that it is one that only a select few are even aware of. You will find that the challenges you will be presented with will be much different."

"How so?" Minato asked. He was hoping that if he knew sooner, the better prepared he would be to face whatever Igor was talking about.

Unfortunately, the old man shook his head. "Unfortunately, I cannot predict what exactly you will face or when it will take place, only that it will happen very soon."

Then, Igor seemed to remember something. "Ah, yes! I seem to have neglected to introduce you to my assistants." He gestured to the short-haired girl to his right. "I believe that you already remember Elizabeth from your last time spent here, correct."

Minato smiled and nodded. "Of course I do."

"It is good to see you alive and well again, Minato-san." Elizabeth smiled back. "I trust your new life is treating you well?"

"So far."

He then turned his attention to the other woman who Igor gestured to. "And this here is Margaret, my other assistant. She will be here to assist you as well."

The woman dipped her head in greeting. "It is a please to meet you, Minato Arisato. My name is Margaret, Elizabeth's older sister. I wish to thank you for looking after her."

Minato stared at her with slight surprise. "Older sister?" He then turned back towards Elizabeth. "When were you ever going to tell me that you had an older sister?"

"Well..." Elizabeth began. "I'll tell you about it later."

 _'She completely dodged the question.'_ he thought as he felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his head.

Then, a new question suddenly came to his mind, one that he felt was very important. "Wait, Igor. If I am in a new world, then what about the Great Seal? Is it in danger?"

If he was no longer connected to the Great Seal, then the chances of that monster returning to destroy it were incredibly high at this rate.

Igor rested his chin on he back of his right hand. "Hmm, I have already looked into that, and I can gladly report that the Great Seal is perfectly fine."

What? How was that possible? How could the Great Seal still be standing if he was no longer physically connected to it? "How is that even possible?"

"I cannot fully explain it myself, but it would appear that a small piece of your very life essence has somehow found a way to separate itself from the Great Seal and somehow found its way into the world that you are currently residing in." Igor explained. "As for the reason why, even I cannot explain."

"So... It's like a piece of me is separate while the rest of me is still in the Seal?" Minato guessed.

Igor nodded. "Correct. Though if something catastrophic were to befall you that could threaten your very life, then that bond will be severed and the Great Seal will become vulnerable."

That revelation surprised Minato. "Then what your saying is if I were to possibly die here, then the me in the Great Seal will also be destroyed?"

"Indeed." Igor replied.

It was a shocking discovery to say the least. How was even possible for a piece of his soul to separate from the Great Seal in the first place? And on top of that, for what reason? Was there even a way for him to get back, or would he have to stay here for the rest of his life in this world? And what's worse, what about his friends?

For all he knew, they had probably moved on with their lives by now, but there was no doubt they were still keeping to their promise to make everyone stop wishing for The Fall. But if they were to succeed, then what would happen to him? Would he still get to see them again or would he still be stuck here even if Erebus was destroyed for good?

Even with all of these questions, at least Minato knew that as long as he was still alive, then the Great Seal would continue to stand. He would just have to remember to be careful from now on until he could find a way to get back. And possibly even see his friends again.

Then a new question came to Minato. "Igor, there's something else I've been meaning to ask. It's about my, you know..."

"Your Persona's are still with you. Although without a way to summon them, you will be unable to use them in battle." Igor replied before he began scratching his chin while starring at Minato. "Hmm... This is interesting..."

"What is it?"

"Before your previous contract was fulfilled, you were only able to access up to 12 Persona's." he replied. "However, now I can sense up to well over a hundred. In fact, It seems that you now possess every Persona that you have had access to throughout your previous journey."

Margaret starred at Minato with surprise. "How is that even possible? Our last guest couldn't achieve such a feat even after he completed his journey."

Elizabeth scratched her chin in thought before a realization came to her. "It must have something to do with you gaining the Universe Arcana. From what we know so far, it is one of the most powerful Arcana's we have ever seen, even more so than the World Arcana. The Universe grants those who wield it the power to break the boundaries between the possible and the impossible, which we have already seen with the sealing of Nyx."

Igor kept his gaze fixed on Minato. "I can indeed sense the power of the Universe within you, but only a small portion of it."

"It's possible that the reason for that is because of the Great Seal itself." Margaret deduced as she turned to Minato. "You used the Universe Arcana to seal away Nyx, meaning that while you still carry a small amount of the power of the Universe, the rest of it still remains within the Great Seal. It's possible that the Universe is what is keeping you connected to the Seal."

"Then it would seem that there is no reason to worry at the moment." Igor said. "But know that we looked into finding any means of returning you to the Seal as you travel on your current journey."

Minato nodded in response, a grateful smile on his face. "Of course. Thank You."

"Well, I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer. Time marches on in your world. You should return to your time." Igor stated.

"We look forward to your next visit." Margaret said.

Elizabeth smiled. "Take care of yourself, Minato-san."

Igor gave his own smile and nodded. "Until we meet again, farewell."

* * *

Minato's eyes slowly fluttered open and he found that he was lying down on one of the many comfortable beds located in the nurses office. Looking around, he noticed that Eito and Kazuyo weren't there. He then looked up at the nearest wall clock and realized that it was already 1 o'clock. Lunch had already ended and classes were resuming. No doubt his two classmates were back in class right now.

Sitting up on the bed, Minato gave a soft grunt as he stretched his arms out. It was at that moment that the nurse walked into the room with a clipboard in her hands. "Ah, Arisato-kun. I see you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Tired." he replied as he got up off the bed, only to feel his head slightly swim. "And a little dizzy."

"Hmm, yes, I can see why." the nurse said while observing Minato put a hand on the side of his head. "Your two friends brought you here a little over an hour ago and you had a very high fever, so I had you rest here. Your friends stayed with you for most of your rest, but had to leave before classes started again."

Minato nodded in understanding. He was grateful that Eito and Kazuyo wanted to look out for him, but he wished that they would stop worrying over him like he was a defenseless grade-school student. He could handle himself just fine.

"I would suggest that perhaps you head home and rest for the day, Arisato-kun." the nurse suggested while placing the back of her hand on his forehead. "It looks like your fever is still pretty high. I'll let Mr. Nakajima know of your early leave."

The blue-haired boy simply nodded as he grabbed his book bag off a nearby table and walked out the door. But as he walked down the empty halls, he could only think about the information Igor gave him.

Just what sort of challenges was he going to be forced to go up against?

* * *

As Asuka and the others walked down the busy streets of the Asauksa shopping district, Katsuragi sighed. "Guarding a VIP without being seen or an infiltration mission to acquire secret information was what I had in mind."

"Missions paramount to national security are reserved for those who've already graduated school and became real shinobi." Ikaruga reminded her.

"But fighting delinquents is just lame!" Katsuragi complained in response.

"It's not as easy as it sounds, though." Asuka said while looking to be in deep thought. "We need to get rid of them in secret. And they're just normal people too."

Ikaruga nodded. "That's why it's a training mission."

Katsuragi gave a sigh of resignation. "Well, fine."

"So where are they hiding?" Hibari asked.

Soon, Ikaruga stopped and fixed her gaze to the ground with a look that suggested she was in deep thought. "Walking around at random is a waste of time. Let's split up and look for targets."

And so, the others decided to split off and search different areas of the shopping district. Ikaruga chose to search the market, Katsuragi decided to investigate (or rather "play around") the nearby amusement park, Hibari and Yagyū went to check out the back alleys, and Asuka chose to look around Asakusa Temple.

As she looked around, Asuka sighed. "No sign of any one here, either."

"Huh?"

Asuka turned and was more than surprised to see a familiar tan-skinned girl standing beside her, who was looking back at her with equal surprise. "You? We met at the ferry!" Asuka said with a smile.

The girl smiled back. "And now we meet again."

After their meeting, the two girls relocated to the nearby park where the two started to chat. "I'm on a school trip." the girl said.

"Oh, so that's why you were on the boat." Asuka realized.

"I lost track of my friends while wandering around on my own." she explained. "I don't know my way around, and my school doesn't allow cell phones."

"Do you know roughly where you lost them?" Asuka asked. If this girl had lost her friends, then she was more than willing to help her.

The girl tapped her chin in thought. "Lets see... Some-thing-or-another road."

"A lot of streets in Asakusa have 'road' in their name. I doubt that clue will really help." the brunette replied, but then smiled. "Hey, I can help you look for the, if you'd like."

"Are you sure that's okay?" she asked. "You looked busy back at the temple."

Asuka simply laughed sheepishly in response. "It's no problem. We're doing a mini school trip. So, should we go?"

"Sure. Thank you." The girl gave a grateful smile. When Asuka turned her back to start walking down a path, the other girl turned around and snapped her fingers.

Up on the roof of the temple, another woman wearing a similar black and red outfit stood up and gave a smirk.

* * *

"Hey, Yagyū-chan..." Hibari started as she and Yagyū walked down a vacant street in search for the delinquents. "Why are you coming with me?"

Yagyū kept her gaze forward, holding her signature oilpaper umbrella over her shoulder. "I'd worry if you were on your own."

Hibari puffed her cheeks as she pouted. "I can handle delinquents by myself, you know?"

"They might jump out at you out of nowhere." Yagyū said as she glanced at her.

The pinkette slightly jumped at that, but tried to put on a brave face. "I-if that happens, then I'll beat them har-"

"Hold it!"

Both girls stopped and saw another woman with a rather masculine face and carrying a wooden shinai. Hibari quickly hid behind Yagyū when she noticed that there were about a dozen men carrying weapons ranging from bats to metal pipes surrounding them.

One of the men observed the two girls' clothes. "Those uniforms... These chicks are from Hanzō Acadamy."

The woman, who appeared to be the leader of the group, gently smacked her practice sword against the palm of her free hand in a threatening manner. "That fricken' huge school, eh?"

"What about it?" Yagyū inquired with a solid frown.

"You gotta lend us some money, kay?" she replied while the other delinquents chuckled.

Yagyū wasn't intimidated in the slightest. Instead, she gave a small smirk. "I see. So it is you."

Another delinquent glared at her, feeling slightly insulted by her smirk. "Ya lookin' for a fight?"

"Y-you shouldn't provoke them, Yagyū-chan." Hibari stuttered with fear as she continued to hide behind her friend.

Yagyū then glanced over her shoulder, her smirk not fading. "They're here."

Hibari turned around, as well as the delinquents, and noticed Ikaruga and Katsuragi approaching them. The former had a stern frown on her face while the latter seemed to lick her lips with anticipation. Hibari squeaked with surprise when Yagyū then wrapped her arm around her waist before jumping up onto the roof of the building next to street while the thugs were distracted by the arrival of the two other girls.

"More Hanzō students?" one of the thugs inquired.

Katsuragi punched her fist into her palm with a grin. "All right, you guys ready?"

"Wh-who're these chicks?" another delinquent asked.

"We were asked to clean up the shopping district. Yes, I suppose you could call us a disciplinary committee of sorts." Ikaruga replied. She then glanced up towards the roof where Yagyū and Hibari were perched. "Yagyū-san, where's Asuka-san?"

The white-haired girl simply shook her head, indicating she didn't know.

"What's she doing?" Katsuragi inqured.

Ikaruga sighed with exasperation. "She's always like this."

Yagyū turned to the pink-haired girl beside her. "Hibari, take care of passerby's."

"Okay, leave them to me!" she replied as she took off along the roof towards the entrance of the street.

The lead thug growled as she pointed her shinai towards Ikaruga and Katsuragi. "They're bein' all high an' mighty! Get 'em!"

"YEAH!" the other thugs roared as they raised their weapons.

"We have no choice." Ikaruga said as she got into a fighting stance. "Let's go!"

"All right!" Katsuragi exclaimed as she raised her fists.

* * *

As Asuka led the other girl down a path along a river, she began to feel guilty for abandoning the mission, but she really felt that she needed to help this girl find her friends.

 _'Will the others be all right?'_ she thought with guilt.

"We couldn't find my friends anywhere we looked." the other girl said. "They must've left without me.'

Asuka simply nodded. "Yeah, they must have."

Little did the brunette know, the tan-skinned girl pulled a short sword out from behind her and smirked darkly as she brought it back, preparing to stab her. However, before she could, a pair of ducks suddenly shot out from some bushed and in front of Asuka. Startled, the girl shrieked when she lost her balanced and fell of the path and into the river.

The girl quickly concealed her weapon again and ran to the side of the river to help pull Asuka out. Once she did, the brunette's clothes and hair were completely soaked. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm am." Asuka replied before she let out a sneeze.

"Thanks for helping me." the girl said as she helped her to her feet.

"Um, we haven't so much as introduced ourselves yet." Asuka said as she fixed her uniform. "I'm Asuka!"

The girl smiled. "I'm Homura."

"Homura-chan, huh?" Asuka smiled as she turned around and started back down the path. "Well, see ya, Homura-chan! I hope you find your friends soon!"

"There's no need to worry." Homura said softly as her dark smirk returned. _'I took a risk by letting my killing intent flare up near her, but she didn't even notice. What a novice shinobi.'_

* * *

Minato walked down the street near the Asakusa shopping district, heading back towards his apartment. His fever seemed to go down slightly, but his head was still hurting him a little. Perhaps he really did need to stop taking anymore night shifts at his part-time job and just start working weekends from now on.

However, as he walked down the bustling street, he continued to think about what Igor had told him earlier. He now knew that this world was in fact much different than his own and was harboring secrets of its own. But if those secrets had anything to do with the "journey" that Igor warned him about, then he would need to find a way to prepare himself for whatever challenge may come his way.

He could already picture Mitsuru praising him for planning ahead.

As Minato turned a corner to walk down another street, he suddenly found himself treated to a strange sight.

"Sorry! No entry beyond this point!"

Standing in front of the entrance of a blocked off street was was young girl around his age with bright pink hair and bright blue eyes with pink, flower-shaped pupils. She was dressed in what appeared to be a construction workers uniform and seemed to be guiding people away from the street. But why would a teenager girl be working construction? Was it for a part-time job or something?

Hibari was currently making sure that no bystanders would walk down the street while her friends took care of the delinquents. After obtaining a construction uniform and some equipment from...somewhere, she was able to set up a blockade at the entrance of the street so that no one could see what was going on. She only hoped that everything was going okay without any problems.

"Is there something going on here?" Hibari turned to see a blue-haired boy standing in front of her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, this street is currently undergoing construction right now." she replied. "We should be done in about an hour or so."

Minato nodded, but then had another question. "Are you in high school?"

"Yep! Why?"

"How come you're working in construction? Also, how come I can't hear any tools going off."

Hibari's expression suddenly dropped and she began to stutter. "O-oh! I-umm... It's for-umm..."

Minato instantly began to grow suspicious. However, before he could ask another question, the girl suddenly turned around to face the empty street, a look of shock and worry on her face.

"This aura..." she murmured.

"What?" Minato questioned.

Hibari turned back to her and started waving her hands as she began to back up. "I-I'm sorry. I-um...have to go help my friends. See you!"

With that, the pinkette took off down the vacant street, leaving Minato even more suspicious.

* * *

Katsuragi dusted her hands off as she and Ikaruga stood over the unconscious forms of the thugs. "Can't even call that a good warm up."

"I wonder what happened to Asuka-san." Ikaruga wondered as she looked around.

The blonde sighed. "Well, she must be fooling arou-"

She stopped when she noticed the delinquents suddenly begin to rise to their feet almost like zombies, a dark aura surrounding each of them. They discarded their bats and pipes and pulled out swords or shinai's instead.

Katsuragi and Ikaruga jumped back with looks of shock and surprise. "They can get back up after we beat them to a pulp?"

"These people aren't ordinary delinquents." Ikaruga added.

"Guys!" The others turned to see Hibari running towards them with her school uniform back on and looking worried.

Yagyū, who was still perched on the roof, looked surprised. "Hibari!"

"Be careful! There mindless shells!" Hibari warned.

Katsuragi turned back towards her with confusion. "Mindless shells?"

Up on the roof of another building, a girl was overlooking the street where the confrontation was taking place. She had blonde hair that was curled at the ends with a large pink bow at the top and green eyes.

"Physically slow, yet quick-witted." She focused her gaze down towards Hibari and licked her lips with a smile. "She reminds me of a small, timid animal. How adorable."

The girl snapped her fingers and all hell seemed to break loose. Almost instantly, the entire area, perhaps even the entire city, turned a dark shade of purple.

Katsuragi looked around with shock. "Don't tell me this is..."

Ikaruga's eyes widened. "A Shinobi Kekkai!"

Yagyū jumped down to join the others with her attention on the thugs. "Then these guys are also..."

"...Shinobi." the blonde finished with a nod.

"I guess we should fight them seriously then." Ikaruga said as she witnessed the dark aura surrounding the 'thugs' flare up.

Katsuragi grinned. "All right, it's transforming time!"

"It's not part of our mission, but this is unavoidable." Ikaruga's eyes narrowed as she and the others made different signs with their hands.

 **"Shinobi Tenshin!"**

The girls' bodies then began to glow and their clothes began to change. Ikaruga's new attire consisted of a white gold-trimmed jacket with six buttons and a few golden tassels strewn across. A Hanzō Academy armband was pinned to her upper left arm, her outfit came with a short gold-trimmed skirt and white gold-trimmed boots accentuated by black tights underneath. She also wielded a katana in her hands.

Katsuragi's attire pretty much remained the same. She still wore her Hanzō Acadamy shirt, only it was unbuttoned to reveal most of of her underneath; particularly her breasts. Along with a blue plaid skirt, she wore long socks under her signature weapon: Black and gold metal boots adorned with blue tassels on either side.

Yagyū now wore a pale brown jacket over a white school skirt, a red plaid shirt, brown loafers, and calf-high black stockings. Around he shoulders was a black mantle with a triangle design along the trim and two extended tails while also brandishing her oilpaper umbrella like a weapon.

Finally, Hibari's outfit changed to a light pink track jacket with the Hanzō emblem on the left chest area, dark blue bloomers, black and white socks, and red and white sneakers.

The four got into fighting stances and prepared as the thugs all charged at once.

* * *

Minato had no idea what had just happened. Not long after that pink haired girl had took off down the vacant street, the entire area around him suddenly turned this very eerie color purple that almost hurt his eyes. Not only that, but the surrounding citizens that had been walking by seemed to just vanish into thin air.

The entire phenomenon confused Minato until a thought came to mind. Could it have been the Dark Hour? No, it couldn't have been. Igor had pretty much revealed that this world had no such thing as the Dark Hour or Tartarus. Plus, there was the fact that the people simply disappeared instead of transmogrifying into coffins, there was no bright green sky accompanied by equally eerie colored moon, and there were no Shadows wandering the streets.

If this wasn't the Dark Hour, then what was it? Could this be something completely different? Could it have something to do the 'power' that Igor said governed this world in secret?

Before he could come up with any sort of conclusion to these questions, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

 ** _"Thou art I... And I am thou..."_**

Minato grunted when he felt his headache suddenly grow more intense as the voice spoke.

 ** _"A new journey awaits thou... Lives will be lost unless thou accept thy fate..."_**

The boy eventually dropped his book bag as he placed both hands on the sides of his head to try and calm the raging migraine.

 ** _"Will thou ignore thy destiny? Or will thou walk the path and face death once again to protect what is precious?"_**

Then, almost as quickly as it came, the headache disappeared. Minato slowly lowered his hands and brought his gaze towards the street where the pink-haired girl had run off down, hearing the sounds of what appeared to be fighting.

He now knew what he had to do.

* * *

One of the thugs raised his shinai and brought it down towards Hibari, but the girl was able to counter by ducking out of the way before grabbing the delinquent by his arm and tossing him to the ground behind her.

Hibari then turned and gasped when she saw yet another thug swing his sword towards her. She jumped back, only to bounce of the edge of the Shinobi Barrier that had been set up around them. But then, just as the same thug attempted to attack Hibari again, Yagyū jumped in front of her and opened her umbrella, completely blocking the strike and blowing the thug back in the process.

Katsuragi launched her leg at the nearest thug in a high kick, only for him to duck his head to the side and swing his shinai at her. The blonde managed to kick the weapon out of hands before kicking the thug in the chest and send him flying. Another thug tried to strike at Katsuragi while her back was turned, but Ikaruga quickly defended her by blocking the sword with her own katana.

"Damn, these guys are more coordinated than they look." Katsuragi commented as she ducked under another swing from one of the thugs' swords.

"Agreed, I wasn't expecting this fight to be this difficult." Ikaruga replied. "Just where is Asuka?"

Yagyū shook her head as she helped Hibari up off the ground. "Lets just hope that she gets here soon."

"Where are you, Asuka-chan?" Hibari asked no one in particular.

At that moment, footsteps could be heard approaching the four girls from behind. Assuming that they belonged to their fifth friend, the four turned around to face the source.

"About time, Asuka!" Katsuragi exclaimed. "Where the hell have you be-"

She stopped. It wasn't Asuka.

Instead, it was a blue-haired boy with sapphire colored eyes casually approaching them with his hands stuffed in his pockets and a neutral expression on his face. His bangs seemed to cover his right eye and he had a pair of clip-on earphones and an mp3 player hanging from his neck. Hibari's eyes widened when she realized it was the same boy that she had encountered earlier.

"What's this? Another Hanzō student?" one of the thugs inquired.

"Jeez, these Hanzō brats just keep on coming." another one complained.

Ikaruga stepped forward in front of the boy. "Please step back! Leave this to us."

Minato did not listen. Instead, he simply walked right past her like she wasn't even there, leaving her stunned.

"Oi, are you listening?!" Katsuragi shouted. "You need to get out of here right now! Do you have a death wish or something?!"

Once again, Minato didn't listen and continued to approach the thugs before stopping just a few feet away from them.

"What'd ya want, boy?" the lead thug questioned as she stepped forward. "You looking for a fight too?"

"...You have one chance."

The thugs looked slightly taken aback. "Huh?"

"I said you have one chance." Minato repeated. "One chance to give up before things get ugly."

At first, the thugs were silent, but then they all seemed to burst out laughing. "Pwahahahaha! Did he really just say that?!"

"Hahahaha! You got a death wish or something, kid?!"

"You must be joking, right?!"

The lead thug huffed as she brought up her weapon, followed by her subordinates. "I don't know what your damage is, but I hope you said your prayers before coming here, cause you're about to die!"

"The hell is he doing?!' Katsuragi hissed as she stepped forward to try and stop him.

Minato simply closed his eyes before his suddenly flashed to a scene in the Velvet Room before.

 _"Behold, the last power you and I shall unveil..."_

Minato slowly reached his right arm out to the side, delving deep into his mind as he tried to concentrate. At that moment, he felt a familiar power begin to channel through him and gather into his open hand.

 _"It is the power to bring about a new beginning, or the ultimate end."_

"What's happening?" Hibari asked as she noticed what appeared to be blue light begin to gather in his hand.

Ikaruga's eyes slowly widened at the sight. "What is he...?"

 _"Nothing is outside the realm of possibility for you know."_

Minato's eyes snapped open as the light in his hand dissipated, revealing an object held tightly in his grip that made everyone around him stare with astounded expressions.

It was a silver object in the shape of a gun, with the word 'SEES' inscribed on both sides.

"I tried to warn you. But now you leave me no choice." Minato said lowly. Then, without warning, the boy then brought the weapon to his head and pointed the tip at his right temple.

"W-what are you doing?!" Hibari screeched in fear.

"Have you gone crazy?! Kastsuragi exclaimed.

"Put that weapon down, now!" Ikaruga added.

Minato still ignored them, his focus set on the thugs before him. He felt his breathing become slightly rapid, his grip on the weapon tightening and sweat begin to roll down his face. However, his nervousness was eased by a soft, male voice that echoed through his skull.

 _"Go on."_

The thugs decided that they were tired of waiting and all rushed towards the boy their weapons in hand in preparation to finish him off. However, they failed to notice the smirk that etched its way on his face.

"Per..."

The thugs manage to get closer, their weapons raised.

"What are you doing?! Run!" Yagyū yelled.

"-...so..."

The lead thug made it first as she prepared to bring her sword down to cleave the boys head off.

"Run now!" Ikaruga ordered.

"-...na!"

 **BLAM!**

A loud noise akin to a gunshot rang out as Minato pulled the trigger of the weapon. However, instead of blood or brain matter shooting out, glowing blue fragments that resembled broken glass appeared from the left side of his head. As they did, a raging surge of blue and indigo flames erupted from behind the boy, funneling like a mini twister.

 **I am Thou, and Thou art I.**

 **From the Sea of Thy Soul I Cometh.**

A deep voice rang out through the area as a figure began to slowly manifest out of thin air. The first thing to take shape was the arm and the stubbed legs, followed by metal joints that connected the white limbs to a sky blue colored body that had a small speaker on the stomach area. After the body manifested, an object resembling a large lyre took shape on the figures back.

 **I am the Other You that Exists Within.**

 **I am the Beginning of the Endless Journey You Will Travel.**

Finally, a head appeared. The face was dark grey in color, its hair was white, and a red scarf-like cloth wrapped around the figures neck and a part of it even went over the top of its head like a headband. Then, the eyes opened, revealing glowing red eyes that stared down solely at the thugs below. The figure reached behind its back and pulled out the large lyre.

 **I am Orpheus.**

 **Master of Strings.**

After Orpheus made his presence known, the four Hanzō shinobi could only stare in shock. They had heard of shinobi summoning's before, but never something like this.

"What the hell...?" Katsuragi breathed.

Hibari stared up at the floating form of Orpheus with awe on her face. "Is this...a dream?"

Minato's expression remained completely neutral as he raised his hand out towards the thugs.

"...Orpheus."

The Persona raised his own hand before strumming his fingers along the strings of the lyre, causing an explosion of flames to consume the lead thug. However, Minato was surprised that no scream of pain came out, and her skin and clothes burned away to reveal not flesh or bone but...wood?

 _'Their not human...'_ he thought. _'Their...dolls.'_

The Persona shot forward, swinging his lyre, and striking two more thugs with such force that their skin was torn away like fabric, revealing more wood underneath. Another pair of thugs rushed at Orpheus, but the Master of Strings spun and slammed his lyre into the first before strummed his fingers against the strings again, creating another explosion that engulfed the second.

While his back was turned, one of the remaining thugs jumped up onto the Persona's back, wrapping its arms around its neck while another rushed at Orpheus from the front and struck him in the chest with its shinai. Minato gave a slight grunt as he felt a slight surge of pain in his chest and reached his hand up towards where he felt it. It was the same area where Orpheus had also been struck.

"Get...off me!" Minato let out a yell, one that Orpheus seemed to respond to. The Master of Strings reach over his shoulder and grabbed the head of the thug on his back and chucked him into the side of a building before grabbing the one trying to stab him with his shinai and pulled him off of him. While carrying the thug by his head, Orpheus' eyes lit up as the assailants head exploded before the rest of his body became consumed by flames.

Minato turned towards the remaining thugs and saw them all rush at at him. He raised his hand out once more, his expression dead set.

"Destroy them, Orpheus!"

Orpheus spun his lyre in his hand before he gave the strings one last powerful strum. A huge pillar of fire erupted from beneath their feet, consuming them. Once the flames cancelled out, all that remained of the thugs were nothing but charred and smoldering remains of wooden puppets.

"Amazing..." Yagyū muttered.

Ikaruga looked utterly dumbfounded. "So powerful..."

Eventually, the Shinobi Barrier disappeared, causing the blue sky and colorful buildings to return while Orpheus disappeared back into Minato's psyche at the exact same time. Minato felt a strain in the depths of his mind. It had been some time since he had last summoned a Persona and he was immediately reminded of when he summoned his Persona for the first time.

Then, he felt his mind go completely blank.

Minato's arms went limp, his Evoker dropping to the ground. He fell to his knees, feeling every muscle in his body scream in protest and turn to jelly before collapsing to the ground on his stomach.

The thing he could see before he lost consciousness was the four girls standing over him.

* * *

It was already sunset now and the streets were almost all empty since people were starting to head home. Katsuragi and Yagyū were carrying the unconscious boy under his arms. Ikaruga was leading them while Hibari followed close behind Yagyū.

"We were attacked by dolls disguised as delinquents. And then this boy summoned that thing by...shooting himself." Ikaruga nearly hesitated to say that last part. "I'm not sure what exactly happened, but one this is clear."

"Those dolls were after us." Yagyū finished.

"All of those dolls had the same aura, didn't they?" Hibari asked. "As if all of them were controlled by the same person."

Suddenly, the pinkette lost her footing when she slipped on a can sitting in the middle of the street. With a scream, she nearly fell backwards until she felt a pair of hands catch her.

"Are you okay?" An older looking girl with blonde hair with curled ends, a pink bow and green eyes asked, smiling while supporting her.

Hibari nodded. "Y-Yeah."

The girl inched her head closer, still smiling. "You really _are_ adorable."

"Huh?"

The girl giggled before releasing Hibari and running off in the opposite direction. "See you!"

Hibari couldn't help but watch the girl leave while smiling as well. "She's so pretty!"

"What's the matter?" Yagyū asked, looking slightly irritated at how close the other girl had gotten to Hibari.

"Oh, nothing." she replied sheepishly.

"Everyone!" The others turned to see a thoroughly soaked Asuka running towards them while waving.

Ikaurga turned to her, looking surprised. "Asuka-san!"

"What happened to you?!" Katsuragi demanded, looking slightly annoyed at the girls tardiness.

After catching her breath, Asuka finally spoke. "Well... I can explain everything." Then her eyes widened when she realized something. "What about the delinquents?"

Ikaruga, however, crossed her arms with a look of disapproval on her face. "Why do you even bother asking when you're this late?"

"They weren't simple delinquents either." Katsuragi added.

Asuka looked confused, yet curious. "What do you mean?"

"Before we tell you," Ikaruga began, "we'll have to get Kiriya-sensei to scold you about your behavior today."

"What?!"

"You'd better prepare yourself for a grueling meditation session."

Asuka sighed with defeat, but that all soon disappeared when she noticed the unconscious boy being supported by Katsuragi and Yagyū.

"Minato-kun?!" She dashed forward and lifted the boys head up to get a better look at his face.

Hibari looked at her with surprise. "Asuka-chan, you know him?"

The brunette nodded. "I met him earlier this morning when I got back. But why is he here? What happened to him?"

"We'll tell you when we get back." Yagyū said. "There's a lot we need to talk about."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of another building, five other females were having a meeting of their own as well. The blonde girl from before smiled and giggled as she faced one of the other females, who's features were hidden by the glare of the setting sun.

"I could imagine each and every one of them as my wonderful dolls."

The other girl giggled back before turning towards another familiar girl. "So, how was the legendary shinobi's granddaughter?"

Homura let out a snort of laughter with her hands on her hips. "Not nearly as skilled as I expected her to be."

"In other words, Hanzō Academy is full of push-overs. No threat at all." Another shadowy female spoke in a monotonic voice.

"I wouldn't say 'push-overs'." the blonde girl replied with a slight frown. "That boy from before was able to defeat my dolls with relative. He may be a dangerous opponent to go up against."

"Summoning a powerful creature into battle by shooting himself, huh?" Homura gave off a grin. "Sounds like an opponent I'd like to go up against."

Nearby, another girl who appeared slightly smaller than the other four snicked as she held an umbrella over her head. "We can ignore them for now. They'll soon find out who the true shinobi are."

* * *

 **(Play Beauty of Destiny -Persona 4 Golden Special Mix ver.- as the ending theme)**

 **And cut! Holy crap, I was NOT expecting this first chapter to be this long! Still, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Apologies if the fight at the end was too short, I'll be sure to fix that next time. Please leave a review and constructive feedback and be prepared for when the next chapter releases! I'm still in college and still have two more months until summer break, but I will continue to try and put enough time in between my studies so that I can work on updating my stories.**

 **Also, if you are a new reader, please don't forget to check out my other stories _Godzilla: Rulers of Earthland_ and _Monsters and Devils_!**

 **Until next time, this is Godzilla Boy signing off!**

* * *

 **Next Time: Fateful Encounter**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Persona 3 and Senran Kagura!**

 **Hey guys, I back with Chapter 2! To be perfectly honest with you guys, I didn't realize that this story would get this popular on the first chapter. It makes me happy knowing that you guys are into this story. Before we begin though, let me take this time to answer a few of your comments.**

 **Thunder Dragon: I can understand what you mean, but there is a reason that I had Minato still be somewhat connected to the Great Seal that will play a major role in the main plot of the story.  
**

 **Matemeo3:** **Minato still has access to all of his past Persona's. You could say his situation in the Senran Kagura-verse is kinda like NewGame+, where after starting a new game, you can carry over bonuses from past playthrough's and other things such as the Protagonists level, the removal of fusion level limits, and Compendium data. I did this so that way I wouldn't nerf Minato, but at the same time not make him too overpowered.**

 **Cross: Which ever one feels would be best. Possibly harem, but I have yet to decide that part.**

 **Mrcrazyman94: I can understand where your coming from, I was slightly unsure about that myself, but then I did some research on some of the characters from Senran Kagura and found a compromise for that. First off, lets say that Minato himself gets into a battle against a shinobi. Without a Persona, he could probably handle his own against the more lower ranked shinobi, but would probably have a harder time the higher you get in shinobi ranks. **

**Now with Persona's, depending on the level of the Persona and the rank or experience of the shinobi, you could argue that they're pretty evenly matched. But then there's Kagura from Deep Crimson. Kagura is quite possibly the strongest character in the Senran Kagura franchise next to Jasmine and in her true form, she could easily wipe out most of Minato's normal Persona's, given that she is able to annihilate yōma such as True Orochi without even trying and even stand up against Asuka in her Ultimate Mode and Homura in her Crimson Mode at the same time.**

 **But after looking into it, I can say that if Kagura were to go up against Minato's ultimate Social Link Persona's (Surt, Cybele, Odin, etc.), then they could probably hold their own for a good while before being bested. But if there was a Persona of Minato's that I could say would stand up against Kagura, that would be his three strongest Ultimate Persona's: Thanatos, Orpheus Telos, and Messiah. Since Orpheus Telos and Messiah are pretty OP in the game anyway and Thanatos is pretty much the definition of brutality, I could say against one of them, Kagura would have a hard time. But thank you for mentioning that, it gave me a lot to think about.**

 **Now then, with all of that aside, lets get into the next chapter!**

 **(Opening theme: Burn My Dread -Spring of Birth ver.-)**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Fateful Encounter**

Ikaruga stepped out of the dorm house before turning back towards the door. " Come on everyone, we're going to be late."

"Right!" Asuka, Hibari, and Yagyū exited from the door not long after, with a rather exhausted Katsuragi following behind them.

As the five Hanzō shinobi walked through the streets of Asakusa, the blonde gave a drowsy yawn before wrapping her arm around Asuka's shoulder. " So sleepy... I'm dying here."

Asuka shrieked when Katsuragi's hand reached down and grabbed her by her left breast. "Come on, Katsu-nee!"

"It's my custom to fondle you every morning!" Katsuragi said with a lecherous grin. "I bet you're wide awake now!"

"Don't turn it into a custom!" Asuka retorted. "And _you_ were the one who felt sleepy!"

While the brunette tried desperately to get the perverted blonde off of her, Hibari gave a bright smile to Yagyū. "It's another beautiful morning!"

The white-haired girl could only smile back.

Meanwhile, Ikaruga quietly led the group with a frown on her face as she recalled the events of yesterday after telling Kiriya about their little "encounter."

* * *

 _"Kugutsu?" all five Hanzō girls asked at the same time._

 _Kiriya nodded in confirmation. "As you probably know already, Kugutsu, or puppetry, is a shinobi technique that allows the wielder to freely manipulate a puppet and use it to toy with the enemy. And from what I've heard, you were attacked by a skilled Kugutsu Master."_

 _"Kugutsu Master?" they all asked at the same time yet again._

 _Kiriya sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, now can you keep it to one person answering for everyone?"_

 _Ikaruga raised her hand. "What is this Kugutsu Masters' goals? Why did they attack us?"_

 _"It is impossible to tell right now." Kiriya replied with a slightly grim expression before looking off towards the another part of the Ninja Room. "But right now though, we have a different problem to worry about."_

 _The girls followed their gaze where they saw the blue-haired boy from before laid out on a small bed. After hearing from his students about what he did, Kiriya thought it best and safer for him to rest here in the Ninja Room until he regained consciousness._

 _"Kiriya-sensei." The teacher turned to Asuka, who gave him a worried expression. "Is Minato-kun going to be okay?"_

 _It took a short moment before Kiriya replied. "...I believe so. Though once he regains consciousness, we will have to question him about earlier. He now knows about your secret, which means we will have to keep a sharp eye on him."_

 _He then looked down at the silver gun-like object that the boy had earlier in his hands._

 _"And if what you've told me is true, then we'll also need to look into this 'special ability' of his."_

* * *

"Something wrong, Ikaruga?"

The girls thoughts were cut off as Yagyū spoke up. The other three girls seemed oblivious to Ikaruga's distant expression as they were walking behind them and chatting among themselves.

"...I just hope nothing bad happens." she replied, causing Yagyū to look at her with slight concern.

* * *

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room."

Minato's eyes slowly opened to find himself once again in a familiar blue room. Looking ahead of him, he saw Igor sitting before him with Elizabeth and Margaret standing by his side. The elderly man grinned as he eyed a tarot card that was laid out on the table before him.

"It would appear that you have once again awoken to Orpheus." Igor said. "It would appear that your next journey has officially begun."

Minato looked around, slightly confused. "What...happened?"

"It would seem that you lost consciousness after once again awakening to your Persona." Margaret explained. "Since you haven't summoned one for quit some time, it is understandable why you would have such a reaction to the summoning."

"With you acting as the Great Seal for 2 years, and the months of peace you have been having in this new world, your mind has become somewhat not used to summoning a Persona." Elizabeth added. "That, and the fact that harnessed the power of the Universe outside of the Dark Hour."

That was understandable. Minato recalled the first time he summoned Orpheus at the top of Iwatodai Dormitory when he and Yukari were attacked by the Arcana Magician Shadow. He then remembered that was also the time when Thanatos ripped its way out of Orpheus to destroy the Shadow, which had caused him to be unconscious for nearly a whole week.

He would never get used to the mental strain of Persona summoning, especially when it came to using Fusion Spells. Using Armageddon would always give him a serious headache.

Minato then noticed the card that Igor was staring at and looked slightly surprised. "Is that...?"

The old man chuckled. "Indeed it is, young man." Igor gave a small wave of his hand and the card seemed to levitate off of the table and slowly spin so that the front of the card was facing the boy. Minato's eyes widened when he recognized the design of the card.

The Fool.

"As you probably already know," Igor began, "the Fool is represented by the number 0. It is empty, yet also filled with infinite possibilities. This is also true for the Wild Card."

Wild Card. That's right, the ability to wield more than one Persona at once. It was an ability he had put to good use back in his world with all of the battles he and his friends took part in.

Igor then snapped his fingers and more tarot cards appeared in the air, all aligned side by side with each other after the Fool Card. Each card had a different design, as well as a different number, but Minato could never forget what they each meant. Igor began to list off each card from left to right.

"Magician, Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Justice, Hermit, Fortune, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, and Judgement. Each of these cards represent a bond you have forged with someone from your world, and the Persona's held within each represent the strength of that bond. Just as they have protected you in your world, they will continue to do so in this one as well."

With that, each card vanished into blue particles that seemed to seep into Minato's body, causing a warm feeling to flow through him. However, he then noticed another card hovering before him, this one with the same Roman numeral as the Judgement Arcana: XX, or 20.

"Ah, it would seem I nearly forgot about that card. The Aeon Arcana, which represents your bond with a certain simulacrum back in your world." Igor gave a small chuckle. "I think you should know, she did rather well with the power that you granted her. Almost as well as you."

Minato couldn't help but smile. He felt he made the right choice in choosing Aigis to inherit his Wild Card after he "died". She was a precious friend to him and an irreplaceable living being, even if she was an android. Their bond that created the Aeon Arcana would never break, no matter what challenged it. The card disappeared before also seeping into Minato's body, causing the warm feeling to slightly return.

"Well then, I believe our time here is done for the day. Time marches on in your world." Igor said as everything began to go black for Minato. "Until next time, farewell."

* * *

Minato groaned as he groggily opened his eyes, only to find himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Slowly sitting up in a bed, he looked around to find that he was in a small room that had a very traditional Japanese design to it. He wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but whoever designed it seemed to have some good taste.

Rubbing the side of his head, he tried to think of how he could have gotten here, since this clearly wasn't his apartment. Then he recalled the four girls from earlier and those puppets that he fought off. He wondered if they had something to do with why he was here. Perhaps they had brought him here for some sort of purpose.

Before he could try and piece that together though, the door slid open as an older gentleman entered the room. He noticed Minato sitting up in the bed and approached the bedside.

"Ah, good. You're awake." he said.

Minato stared at the man before casting his gaze around the room again. "...Where am I?"

"Somewhere safe." he replied. He then placed a clean Hanzō Academy uniform on the bed. "Meet us outside once you've finished changing. There is much we need to discuss."

He didn't get a chance to respond as the man turned and walked out the door. Minato changed into the uniform before hesitantly peaking out of the door. Seeing that the hallway was empty, the boy stepped outside the room and walked down the quiet hallway, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to face. He didn't know what to expect, but he needed some answers about why he was here.

Just as Minato was about to turn the corner into what he believed was the main room, he paused when he heard several familiar voices speaking among themselves.

"I'm trying to tell you Asuka-san, we can't just trust him."

"But you don't know that, Ikagura-san!" Minato was surprised when he heard Asuka's voice come from around the corner. "Didn't he save you guys?!"

"He's still dangerous, Asuka. If he has the power to summon monsters, who's to say he won't turn on us?"

"That's mean, Yagyū-chan! He helped us defeat the puppets! We should be thanking him!"

"Thanking him?!" Minato was almost startled by the anger he heard from the fifth female voice. "We're shinobi! We could've defeated those puppets no problem! We didn't need a civilian's help to beat those piles of wood! We were trained for fighting! He wasn't, and he still beat them!"

He then heard the voice of the man from earlier speak up. "You've made your point, Katsuragi. However, regardless of how some of you must feel, he is still our guest. We should treat him with the proper hospitality and make him feel safe and welcome here until we gain enough knowledge about him."

"...Alright, fine."

So they were going to question him about who he was. At least now he knew what to expect now. From what he heard, however, some of those girls didn't seem all too grateful for his aid the other day. Still though, he knew that what he did was the right thing, else someone would have surely died. With that, Minato decided to face what was surely the inevitable and finally turned the corner and entered the room.

"Ah, here he is now." He heard the older man speak. Looking up, Minato saw five familiar females standing together nearby. The boy remembered the four girls from before, but as soon as his gaze met Asuka, he could have sworn he could see an uplifting smile on her face.

"Please, sit." the man said, gesturing towards the floor in front of him. Minato approached cautiously, feeling on full alert just in case it was a trap. Slowly lowering himself to the ground, he sat in front of the elderly gentleman. "Now then, do you know why you're here, Arisato-san?"

"...Somewhat."

It wasn't a complete lie. He knew that they were no doubt here to question him about who he was, but that was all he knew.

"I see... Well then, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Kiriya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Wait, Kiriya? He had heard that name before. "Aren't you a math teacher at Hanzō Academy?"

The girls seemed surprised while Kiriya seemed intrigued. "Yes, I am. Where did you hear that from?"

"Eito and Kazuyo told me about you." he replied with a straight face. "Apparently they said you're a good teacher."

Kiriya smiled at that. "Ah, you must mean Takahashi and Agaki. I can say that Agaki is quite an intelligent young woman. Takahashi... well, he has his moments of inspiration from time to time."

"That sounds like him."

"Indeed." Kiriya nodded before raising his hand towards where the girls were. "Allow me to introduce you to my students. This is Ikaruga and Katusragi, the third-years of my class."

When Minato glanced towards both girls, the black-haired girl gave a polite nod of greeting, while the blonde seemed to be giving a slight glare towards him. It seemed she was still sour about him helping them before.

Kiriya continued. "These two are our first years, Hibari and Yagyū."

The pink-haired girl waved at Minato with a bright smile, but the white-haired girl forced the girl to lower her arm while flashing a suspicious look at him. Guess not everyone was very welcoming of his presence.

"And lastly, this is Asuka, our second-year. Though I'm sure you two are already acquainted with each other." Kiriya finished.

"We are." Minato replied, glancing at the brunette, who seemed to be trying to avoid his gaze. Wait, was she blushing? Why was she blushing?

"Well then," Kiriya started, "let us get down to business. Arisato-kun, I would like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Minato had expected this, though he wanted to check something first. "Before that, what do you know about me?"

The teacher stared at him with an unreadable expression before he then pulled out a folder and opened it up, scanning its contents. "Lets see... Minato Arisato, 17 years old, enrolled in Hanzō Academy more than a month ago. I see here that it makes no mention of either of your parents. May I ask why?"

"...They died in a car accident 10 years ago." He might as well tell them about that part since he asked.

He noticed how the other groups demeanor's seemed to change from suspicious and alert to surprised and somber. Even Kiriya gave him a sympathetic look. "I...apologize for bringing up such a sensitive subject to you."

"It's okay. It was long time ago." The boy shook his head, giving Kiriya the okay to go on. "Please continue. You were going to ask me some questions?"

"Ah yes, very well then. First of all, do you know what a shinobi is?"

Minato blinked, looking slightly confused. "...What?"

"I suppose I should explain then." Kiriya admitted, before he began his explanation. "You see, in the past, shinobi were once servants of the feudal lords that ruled Japan in the past and specialized in different tasks such as espionage, subversion and assassination. But then when influx of western culture came to Japan and the feudal system collapsed, the story of shinobi faded into legend."

To be honest, this story was already beginning to sound a lot like something out of a manga that Junpei or Kenchi would read. He nodded to Kiriya, waiting for him to go on.

"Shinobi still exist today, although we now work in secret, mainly working for politicians and heads of corporations." Kiriya explained. "But there were those who hired shinobi as tools for their own self-interests, causing the government to confront us for the crimes we committed. This created the rift between Good Shinobi who serve the law and Evil Shinobi who break the law."

Minato stayed silent as he let the information sink in for a moment. He hadn't expected this to be what Igor had warned him about when he said that he would get involved in a much different conflict. He had to admit, it was an unfathomable concept, such an insane suggestion that had he not experienced the strangeness of the Dark Hour and climbed the unnatural creation that was Tartarus, he would have thought they were lying.

But they were not. That much was clear to him. They were being completely truthful to him.

He noticed they were all watching him, waiting for his response to Kiriya's explanation.

"I see," was all he said after what he had hoped was a respectful period of silence.

"Do you have any questions before we continue, Arisato-san?" Kiriya asked with a serious expression.

"No."

"I understand it may be a little too much for you to take in at once," Kiriya said, mistaking his abrupt answer for uncertainty. "If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. It is the least I can do in exchange for helping my students."

"Not that we needed it..." Katsuragi grumbled under her breath, earning he a light jab in the side from Ikaruga.

Kiriya ignored the blonde's comment and remained focused on Minato as he waited for his answer.

"No," he repeated, "It's sufficient."

They stared at him. He could understand why. Yukari had always said that he appeared apathetic and cold to approach. Attempting to get a rise out of him was next to impossible, not that Junpei lacked for trying. But they misunderstood. He wasn't as apathetic as he used to be, he merely saw things in a different light.

"Very well then." Kiriya said while folding his fingers together. "We have told you who we are. So if you don't mind, we would like to know who you are."

This was it then. He knew he could try and lie to them to keep his power a secret. He wasn't like that though. They had told him who they were, it was only fair that he do the same.

"How did you defeat the puppets?" the man asked. "My students claim that you summoned a creature by shooting yourself in the head with a weapon."

He then reached around and held out a silver, gun-shaped object in his hands for the boy to see. "This weapon, I believe. What is this weapon?"

Minato was inwardly surprised. He had not noticed that his Evoker was missing when he woke up earlier.

"It's not a weapon." he replied to Kiriya's question. "It's my Evoker."

They once again stared at him, this time with slight surprise. It was Ikaruga who spoke first. "An Evoker? What is that?"

"It lets me summon my Persona's."

"Persona's? And what are those?" Kiriya asked curiously.

Minato slightly reached his hand out. "I can show you, if you'd like."

Kiriya eyed the boy, as if trying to scan for any sign of deceit. After what felt like a good long while, Kiriya seemed pleased enough and handed him the Evoker. Minato held the gun-like object in both hands and eyed it for a moment.

Their eyes went wide when he raised the Evoker and brought the barrel to the side of his head. Asuka reacted first and stepped forward.

"Wait! Minato-kun-"

He pulled the trigger and instantly felt chilling power spread through his mind, letting it gather and reach into his psyche, calling out to the countless manifestations that were stored within him.

The familiar form of Orpheus manifested above and behind Minato, his lyre resting on his back and his height made it so his head nearly touched the ceiling. The Persona was motionless aside from his hair slightly blowing in a non-existent breeze, his red eyes staring blankly down at the Hanzō group.

The silence that followed he predicted, as did the exclamations of surprise once the silence had run its course.

"That's the monster we saw; the one that beat those puppets!" Katsuragi managed to shout out, putting all of her fellow shinobis' thoughts together in one simple statement.

"What...is it?" Asuka asked, since this was the first time she had seen the blue-haired boy summon such a creature.

"Orpheus," he couldn't help but add veneration to his tone.

"What?" Hibari asked with her head cocked to the side innocently.

"Orpheus." Kiriya corrected her, his eyes wide with interest as he observed the floating being. "According to Roman mythology, he was the son of Apollo, a god once associated with arts such as music and poetry before he later transfigured into the God of the Sun. Apollo gifted Orpheus with a lyre that had originally been passed down to him by Hermes, and he had become incredibly skilled in music that he came to be called the Master of Strings. After his wife Eurydice passed away, Orpheus was so distraught that he traveled to the underworld and used his music to persuade Hades to allow him to return with his wife as long as he walked in front of her without looking back until they both made it out. However, after he made it out, he turned around before she could, and she disappeared forever, resulting Orpheus becoming an apostate and spurned all the others gods aside from his father. His change in attitude resulted in his death after he was torn apart by followers of the god Dionysus and his head floated down the Hebrus, singing sad songs until it was buried under the island of Lesbos."

The girls stared at him in awe at the large amount of information that their teacher just dropped on him, while Minato smiled. Orpheus was the very first Persona he awoke during the Iwatodi Dormitory incident before Thanatos ripped his way out of his body to slaughter the Arcana Magician. Orpheus had been by his side since the very beginning, during every Shadow battle. During every floor of Tartarus. During every moment of the Dark Hour.

"What exactly are these 'Personas'?" Kiriya asked again.

"Manifestations of thought," he replied simply. "Resolution of the mind given form."

They now stared at him with confusion. Yagyū spoke up. "What can it do?"

Minato was more than glad to demonstrate.

"Agilao."

Orpheus held out a hand and from its open palm and a wave of suffocating heat erupted, blasting into a wooden dummy stationed at one of the far walls of the room, causing it to be enveloped in a torrent of angry, orange flames before it became nothing more than a pile of ashes in just a few seconds.

"Whoa..." Katsuragi breathed in shock.

"That was...impressive." Ikaruga finally admitted.

"That's so cool, Minato-kun!" Asuka blurted out with a bright smile. "That must mean you're a shinobi, too! You have a guardian!"

A what? Minato wasn't sure what a guardian was supposed to be, but judging from what she said, he assumed it was supposed to be something shinobi related.

"I understand that you must be new to the concept of shinobi," Ikaruga said, "But could it be that you grew up with this power and thought of it as a 'manifestation of thought' when in reality it was just a guardian revealing itself?"

"A guardian is normally an secret animal that a shinobi can draw their powers upon. The only way to awaken a secret animal is by imagining one that the shinobi believes it connects with." Kiriya explained to him. "They can often be imaginary animals of myth or ordinary animals that we encounter everyday, but it mostly comes down to whether or not the animal of choice matches the wielders innate characteristsics. Though for a guardian to take the form of ancient historical figures? It's something that I've never seen before. I may require research."

"That's amazing Minato-kun!" Asuka smiled at him. "You're a special shinobi!"

Minato closed his eyes. From what he had heard so far, guardians or 'secret animals' were somewhat like Persona's in a way. The initial Persona's of his fellow SEES members were mostly representations of their innate characteristics as well, like how Mitsuru first summoned her Persona, Penthesilea, to protect her father from Shadows. There was also Akihiko and Shinjiro's initial Persona's, Polydeuces and Castor, which represented their brotherly relationship, and Ken's Persona Nemesis, which represented his desire for revenge on his mothers killer.

However, it seemed that each shinobi could only access one creature, while he had access to many thanks to the Wild Card. He wanted to prove that he was far more different from them than they really thought.

He allowed the power that summoned Orpheus to recede back into his psyche, resulting in the Persona to vanish. He delved back into the Sea of Souls to try and search for the right manifestation to call upon. It didn't take long for one to volunteer.

He raised the Evoker back up to the side of his head, letting the tip kiss his skin before pulling the trigger without a second thought.

"Apsaras."

Familiar power flowed through him, accompanied by a pale skinned, female creature with dark blue hair appearing behind him.

"Impossible!" he heard Ikaruga exclaim.

"It look beautiful!" Hibari beamed.

"Holy crap! Did it just change gender?!" that was no doubt Katsuragi.

Ignoring their comments, he focused on his newly called Persona.

"Bufula."

Apsaras raised one of her hands towards another wooden dummy. In just a matter of seconds, the entire dummy became completely surrounded by a thick layer of ice. Eventually, the ice shattered along the rest of the dummy, turning it into broken chunks of frozen wood.

He could see the flickers of doubt in their eyes. He knew he couldn't explain with words what a Persona was without them hand waving it away as another function of guardian. He could only show them, and though twice he had demonstrated the elemental powers a Persona wielded, he still had a third he could show.

Without warning, Minato pulled out a freshly sharpened pencil from his pants pocket before bringing his arm out. Before anyone could protest, the blue-haired boy stabbed the tip of the pencil into his forearm before removing it, feeling the lead cutting into his skin. When he lifted it, they all could see the ugly tear in his arm and the blood leaking down the limb.

"Arisato-kun!" Kiriya exclaimed with surprise. "That was not necessary!"

"Why would you do that Minato-kun?!" Asuka cried out, her normal cheer forgotten at the sight of an injured friend.

It wasn't a question of what, but one of why. If they still needed proof, he would give it to them the only way he knew how.

"Dia."

Apsaras brought her hands up as a warm glow spread across Minato's arm. He held up his limb for them to see and waited as the healing spell did its work. The skin re-knit, closing over with methodical slowness. The bruises followed, the dark pigments in the flesh faded second by second until only pink, healthy skin remained. he clenched his hand, showing them the unblemished arm that had bled real blood not seconds ago.

He saw the stunned faces of those around him, and knew he had succeeded.

"Not a guardian," he repeated, saying every word slowly for emphasis, _"Persona."_

* * *

In the end, Kiriya allowed Minato to leave. School was about to start and he didn't want to be responsible for the boy to be late for his classes. Minato promised the teacher that he would keep this mornings events secret, and Kiriya once again could tell that he was telling the truth.

Ever since Minato left, looks of shock were plastered on Asuka and Katsuragi's faces, and Hibari seemed more fascinated. Ikaruga and Yagyū both seemed to keep their emotions in check, though one could tell that the bombshell the blue-haired boy dropped on them earlier was still fresh on their minds.

"Personas..." Ikaruga muttered the word in a low tone. "When you think about it, it certainly does sound different from our guardians."

"And after seeing what it did to those puppets, they're pretty dangerous as well." Yagyū added before taking a bite out of her dried squid.

Hibari gave a bright smile. "Then that means Minato-chan must be super strong!"

"ARGH!" Katsuragi suddenly punched her fist against the floor before standing up, looking quite peeved. "There's no way that guy could be stronger than a shinobi! Unless I see it for myself, I won't believe he's as good as us!"

"Katsu-nee," Asuka stared at the blonde with wide eyes, "You don't mean that you..."

Katsuragi then flashed a grin. "Oh, I mean it Asuka. I wanna fight that guy myself!"

The others stared at her with absolute shock. "Katsuragi-san! Why would you want to do that?!" Ikaruga exclaimed.

"Why not?" she replied with a tilt of her head. "I just wanna see how tough that kid really is, and unless he fights me, I won't be convinced that he could be as tough as us."

"But he beat up all of those puppets." Hibari spoke up timidly. "So wouldn't that already make him pretty strong?"

"Those were just puppets. I wanna see what he can do against an actual shinobi." Katsuragi said while waving her hand dismissively before turning towards her teacher. "How 'bout it, Kiriya-sensei? Do you think we could?"

Kiriya sighed as he put down the scroll he had been reading before looking up at her. "Katsuragi, you know that we don't permit fights with civilians. Though I suppose since he seems capable of handling himself, it could be fine. But unless he willingly agrees to take part in a training battle, I can't allow it."

After hearing his response, Katsuragi grinned while rubbing her hands together. Ikaruga saw this and pinched the brim of her nose. _'This can't possibly end well.'_

* * *

"Arisato, are you still with us?" Minato glanced up from his desk towards, seeing Mr. Nakajima staring at him from the front of the class.

"Yeah. Sorry." was his only reply. In honesty, he was still trying to process the events of everything that had happened to him earlier. It was still hard to believe that five other students in this school lived secret lives as ninja's- er, 'shinobi', and didn't even attend normal classes. It was still a lot to take in, but hopefully he wouldn't have to get involved with them again.

Mr. Nakajima nodded. "That's good to here, then hopefully you wouldn't mind answering my next question. In Greek Mythology, Dionysus is seen as the god of wine and theater. However, can you tell me which god before him gave up their seat for him to take over?"

Minato thought on the question, but his thoughts were soon interrupted by a voice within his subconscious.

 ** _"Hestia."_**

"...Hestia?"

The teacher nodded with a bright smile. "That's correct Arisato. Good to see you're still paying attention. Before Dionysus became one of the 12 Olympians, Hestia was the goddess of hearth and home. However, because of the frequent arguing among the other Olympians, she decided to leave Mt. Olympus and gave her seat to Dionysus. I suppose even Greek Gods can act more like modern day mortals from time to time."

Several people in the class laughed at Mr. Nakajima's light joke and Minato slightly nodded, more focused on the Persona that spoke earlier.

 _'Thanks.'_

 ** _"Thou art welcome."_**

...Was it just him, or was Orpheus being more vocal as of late?

* * *

Eventually, class ended and Mr. Nakajima left the classroom, allowing the students to converse among themselves. Minato was looking through one of his text books when he glanced up to find Eito and Kazuyo starring at him with concern for some reason.

"Hey, you doing okay Arisato?" the boy asked. "You've been kinda out of it this morning."

"Is it you headache? Are you feeling well?" Kazuyo asked with worry.

Oh, right. With everything that had happened earlier that day, he had almost forgotten about his 'illness' yesterday.

"I'm feeling fine now." he replied. "Just tired."

The two seemed relieved after hearing his reply. "Oh, good. Glad to hear that you're doing fine." Eito then grinned at him. "So, does that mean you're okay to hang out after school today?"

"Eito!" Kazuyo exclaimed while smacking his arm. "Arisato-kun just recovered and you're already trying to drag him out with you?! Be more considerate, would you?!"

"Okay, okay! Sorry about that." Eito replied while trying to calm the shouting girl.

"Good." Kazuyo then turned towards Minato, slightly blushing. "So, Arisato-kun, would you want to come over to my place after school? I can help make sure that you're fully recovered."

Eito's eyes widened before pointing an accusing finger at the brunette girl. "Oi, what the hell?! Weren't you just saying that we shouldn't be dragging him around just five seconds ago?!"

Kazuyo glared at the blonde-haired boy. "At least I'm doing it for his recovery! I bet you were planning on dragging poor Arisato-kun to the arcade and force him to gorge on junk food when he should be taking it easy!"

"'Taking it easy'?!" Eito repeated. "I bet you were gonna drag him to your place to do God-knows-what to him while he's vulnerable!"

The girls blushed even harder. "W-wh-what!? I would never do something like that to Arisato-kun!"

"Then why are you always starring at him throughout class while drooling?"

Kazuyo's eyes widened. "I drool while I stare at him?! Oh god, no wonder my chin always feels wet after class."

Eito pointed at her again with a grin. "Ha! You just admitted that you stare at Arisato!"

"N-no I didn't!"

"Well, I didn't hear you deny it either."

"Shut up!"

Minato stood up from his seat. "I think I'll just go home after school, if that's okay."

The two finally ceased their argument and turned to him. "Oh, o-okay then..." Kazuyo replied with a slightly dejected tone.

He felt a little bad for hurting Kazuyo's feelings, but he just wanted to spend the evening by himself for a bit so he could think about what happened that morning.

"Sure thing Arisato. You're probably pretty tired anyway." Eito said. He seemed to be fine that Minato wasn't in the mood to hang out, and he was glad about that.

"Alright! Class is about to resume!" Mr. Nakajima announced as he walked into the room, prompting the other students to return to their seats.

* * *

As soon as school ended, Minato immediately made his way towards his apartment. Since he didn't have work tonight, he could spend the rest of the evening thinking over this mornings events while going through his assignments. While everything he had just learned from Kiriya hadn't been as jaw-dropping compared to the Dark Hour and Tartarus, it wasn't as far-fetched sounding either.

To think that the 'ruling power' Igor had warned him about were super-powered ninjas. He would have to prepare himself in the event he were to come across more shinobi. Still though, it was surprising to him that Asuka was actually one of those shinobi's. She didn't really strike him as someone who would be an fighter, but more like your average high school girl that you saw walking down the halls. Oh well, guess there really is more to people than what you get from first impressions.

Before he knew it, Minato was already standing on the steps of his apartment complex. It was a fairly simple building that didn't have any really noticeable features that set it apart from most other apartments, but it was his new home. Thankfully the rent was cheap despite how nice the rooms were. With him working only part-time work, he wouldn't be able to afford a more expensive place.

He approached his room located on the second floor and was about to put his key into the lock when he paused. Something felt...off. Minato could've sworn he could hear voices coming from inside his room, even though he lived alone.

He slowly reached into his pants pocket, slowly drawing his Evoker before quietly turning the key and opening the door.

"Katsu-nee! We shouldn't be doing this! We'll get in serious trouble if we get caught!"

"Relax, Asuka. We'll be fine. Besides, don't you wanna know more about this guy too?"

"Katsuragi-san, I honestly agree with Asuka-san that snooping around Arisato-san's apartment isn't quite a good idea."

"What if Minato-chan finds us and gets mad at us for sneaking around?"

"Don't worry Hibari. I'll protect you if that happens."

...Honestly, he should've expected to find the Hanzō shinobi snooping around. How they could've possibly gotten into his apartment room without anyone noticing was beyond him. Deciding he no longer needed to hide his presence, Minato put his Evoker back into his pocket and closed the door behind him loud enough so that they could hear.

The five girls quickly spun around to see the blue-haired boy starring at them with his usual black stare. Asuka's eyes widened before raising her hand with a sheepish smile. "H-hey Minato-kun. How was you day...? Uh... Welcome home."

"..." Minato remained silent and straight faced, making the brunette worry that he was mad at them, but was keeping his anger hidden.

"W-we're sorry, Minato-kun! It was all Katsu-nee's idea!"

"My idea?! It was Yagyū's idea to follow him around the school!"

"Only because you wished to learn more about him."

"Guys, stop fighting! You're gonna make Minato-chan more mad!"

Instead of speaking up to try and stop them, Minato simply walked over to one of the walls where a portrait had become slightly crooked from the girls going through his room. After correcting it, he turned to face the arguing girls and clapped his hands together as loud as possible. It seemed to work as the five Hanzō girls turned to look at him.

"Since you're here," he started, "would you like some tea?"

* * *

It was still surprising to the five girls that Minato wasn't angry at them for sneaking into his apartment. Then again, like he mentioned earlier, it was next to impossible for Minato to lose his cool or even to get a rise out of him despite Junpei's numerous attempts. The Hanzō shinobi situated themselves on a couch next to the coffee table while Minato brought out some tea before sitting down on another couch across from them.

Once they got themselves situated, Ikaruga bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you for your hospitality Arisato-san. Again, I would like to apologize for the trouble we may have caused you."

Minato shrugged. "It's fine. I'm used to people breaking into my room by now."

He still remembered that one time Aigis broke into his room after she joined SEES to wake him up. Then there was that other time during their school trip to Kyoto when she broke into the hotel room he, Ryoji and Junpei were staying in and tried to switch rooms with the latter two so she could be alone with him. He felt a slight shiver crawl up his spine upon remembering that incident.

"So, can I ask why you were following me around today?" After asking his question, he noticed the uncomfortable and hesitant looks they gave each other.

Asuka spoke up first. "Well...we were hoping you could tell us a little bit more about yourself."

Minato raised an eye brow. That was it? That was all they wanted to find out? "...Sure. What do you want to know?"

"Where are you from, Minato-chan?" Hibari asked innocently.

The boy thought on how he should answer her question. It was quite possible that Gekkoukan High or Port Island didn't exist in this world if even the Kirijo Group didn't exist, but he might as well be sure.

"Have you heard of a place called Port Island?"

The girls responded with looks of confusion before Ikaruga responded. "Not that we've heard of. Is it somewhere outside of Japan?"

"I guess you could say that." he replied. Guess that answers his question.

"Does that mean you're a foreigner?" Yagyū asked.

"No."

"So you really are Japanese?" Asuka asked as well.

"Yes."

Hibari smiled. "You're pretty quiet Minato-chan. Just like Yagyū-chan!"

Minato glanced at the white-haired girl and saw the mild blush on her face, though he suspected it had nothing to do with the fact that they were similar.

"Are there any other questions?" he asked.

"I have one!" Katsuragi finally spoke up as she shot up and leaned forward so that she was in Minato's face. "Tell us more about those things that come out of you!"

The boy had to slightly lean back at how uncomfortably close she had gotten to him. "...You mean my Personas?"

"That would be it." Ikaruga said as she grabbed Katsuragi by the back of her shirt collar and forced her to sit back down. "We were hoping that you could tell us more about them, if you wouldn't mind."

He should've guessed that their conversation would lead to this. It didn't surprise him that they would be curious about his Persona's, though since they were willing to share their true identities to him, he might as well share a little bit about his Persona's.

"What do you want to know?"

"How many do you have?" Ikaruga asked. "Given that you summoned two different Persona's this morning, does that mean you have multiple?"

"169." he responded almost immediately.

There was a brief silence that followed after his reply, blinking as they did a double take. "What was that?" Asuka asked, looking quite stunned.

"I said I have 169 Personas." he repeated.

"Whoa..." Katsuragi whispered before she leaned forward again, looking quite interested now. "How long have you had them?"

"About three years." And that included the two years he spent as the Great Seal.

Hibari slowly raised her hand. "Are they...strong?"

He nodded. "Some more than others."

"Which one's your strongest?" Yagyū asked.

"I can't really tell. Too many to count." In all honesty, if he had to choose which one was his strongest, it was probably a tie between Messiah and Orpheus Telos, though he only used those two as a last resort.

"Can I ask one more question?" Katsuragi asked, making Minato nod. "Why did you decide to help us?"

...Yep, he should've guessed they were still probably pretty sour about him intervening in their fight against the puppets. Though he still didn't quite understand why. Ever since his parents died, he spent the next ten years of his life in apathy. It was only during the year he spent with SEES that he truly felt alive. The time he had spent with his new friends had made him develop the exact opposite of people refer to as bystander syndrome. Instead of simply ignoring an attack on someone and expecting someone else to take care of it, Minato would always be the first to act and protect that person. This was what encouraged him to help protect his fellow SEES members if they ever got cornered during their battles against Shadows.

Though unlike his friends, who had always been grateful for his help, it was the exact opposite for these girls.

"...Would you have felt better if I simply left you alone to quite possibly die?"

The looks of surprise at his counter question were somewhat pleasing, but he still wanted to know why they were mad at him just for helping.

"It's not that we aren't grateful, Minato-kun." Asuak defended. "It's just that, well..."

"We're shinobi. We can take care of ourselves." Katsuragi interrupted. "Besides, it was our first mission outside of school premise. It was a huge deal for us!"

"...I see. Then I apologize for stepping in and I hope I can do something to make up for it."

Once again they were stunned by his reply. He had just apologized for his part in aiding them and was willing to accept anything to make up for it. However, it seemed to be the reply that Katsuragi was waiting for as she stood up from her seat again with a grin.

"Oh, I think you could do something for us?"

Minato looked up at her expectantly. "What's that?"

* * *

"Are you sure that you want to do this, Arisato-kun?" Kiriya asked as the two walked down an empty hallway.

Minato had to admit, he had been completely unprepared when Katsuragi demanded that he and the five Hanzō shinobi participate in a practice battle. The last thing he had expected after meeting them was for them to pick a fight with him. However, if fighting them would help build a better relationship with them, then he was willing to go through with it. If he was going to be hanging around these girls more often in the future, he might as well try to be on good terms with them.

"It's fine. I can handle myself." he replied. "Besides, I think it'll be interesting."

"I still think I should warn you Arisato-kun, these five girls have been trained to be powerful and skilled fighters. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

Minato nodded at the advice before Kiriya opened a pair of double doors that led to a large gym-like setting. Standing on the other side of the room, he spotted the Hanzō girls standing side-by-side facing him.

"Yo!" Katsuragi called out. "About time you showed up! You ready for this?"

"Katsuragi-san, please don't rush Arisato-san any further." Ikaruga scolded before turning towards him with what he could only assume was an apologetic look. "I apologize for this, Arisato-san. You don't have to go through with this if it makes you uncomfortable."

"It's fine." he replied calmly.

He then noticed Yagyū's attention was on a peculiar item on his person. "What's that for?"

'That' was a long luggage bag that looked like one used to carry an instrument like a flute or a saxophone. He set the box down and shrugged. "Just extra insurance."

He opened the box up and reached into it with one hand before slowly lifting up the item within. It was a long one-handed sword with a gold-colored guard and pommel. The boy gave it a few practice swings, feeling satisfied with how easy it was for him to maneuver. He turned towards the others, seeing the slight looks of surprise from them, though Asuka gave a smile.

"That's cool you can use a sword too, Minato-kun! But I bet you can't use one as good as me!"

Oh, they would find out eventually. This weapon had been with him ever since he joined S.E.E.S, given to him my Mitsuru and created by the Kirijo Group to kill Shadows. It was this very weapon he brought with him to battle against Nyx Avatar and used to stab her in the head. He would be lying to himself if he said that holding his trusted sword didn't bring back some nostalgic memories. Using what little amount of the power of the Universe Arcana he still had, he had crafted this sword from memory for this battle.

"Ready when you are." he stated while pointing his blade towards them.

Asuka smiled. "Alright then Minato-kun. Lets do this girls!"

With that, the five shinobi each made a sign with their hands before shouting out, **"Shinobi Tenshin!"**

Minato was surprised to see their bodies suddenly begin to glow before reappearing in the same clothes he saw them in the other day. However, this time he noticed Asuka was dressed in what appeared to be a school uniform composed of a yellow vest over a white shirt, a green plaid skirt with a matching tie, black thigh-high stockings and brown loafers. She still had her red scarf around her neck and around her waist were straps that held a pair of wakizashi, or otherwise called short swords.

Asuka unsheathed her dual swords and pointed one towards him and smiled again. "Lets do out best, Minato-kun!"

He felt the corners of his mouth twitch a little as he forced back a smile. This girls positive behavior was beginning to rub off on him and was increasingly becoming too damn likable.

"I always do." he replied.

"Is everyone ready?" Kiriya asked as he raised his hand. Seeing them all nod, he swiped it down. "BEGIN!"

 **BGM: Unavoidable Battle**

Asuka lunged forward with Ikaruga and Yagyū close beside her while Katsuragi and Hibari stuck close behind them. Minato quickly drew his Evoker from his pocket and trained it towards his head.

"Orpheus!" A single shot rang out as his Persona manifested in front of him. Orpheus grabbed his lyre from his back and blocked a strike from both Asuka and Ikaruga. The Persona then swung his lyre and sent the two flying back before turning his attention towards Yagyū, who thrust her paper umbrella forward like a spear.

An umbrella, he thought, was a peculiar choice of a weapon. It was the last thing he expected someone to use in combat. Then again, Akihiko was able to kill Shadow's with only his fists and Koromaru could wield a kunai knife despite being a dog, so it probably wasn't too ridiculous.

Orpheus reached out and blocked the blow from Yagyū with his forearm before punching at her with his free arm and sent her flying towards where Asuka and Ikaruga landed.

"Heads up!" Minato looked up and noticed Katsuragi was already in the air above Orpheus and dropping down towards him, one of her gold boots pointed towards him.

"Orpheus, Assault Dive!" Minato gave the command and Orpheus swung his lyre with more power than before, striking Katsuragi's incoming boot. Eventually, Orpheus overpowered Katsuragi and sent the girl crashing into the far wall before she fell to the floor, grunting in pain.

"Damn, that guy can hit like a truck." she said to herself as she picked herself up.

"Are you alright, Yagyū-chan?" Hibari asked with concern as she knelt beside her.

"I'll be fine, Hibari." she replied as she too got up. "But he's really strong."

"Do you wanna stop?" Minato asked. He didn't want to hurt them too much, and he most certainly didn't want to end up seriously injuring them accidentally. He didn't want to go too overboard against them in this battle and give them more reason to hate him. That's why he planned on using him more weaker Persona's against them instead of having Satan and Helel go full-blown Armageddon at the start.

"Oh, no way!" Katsuragi exclaimed while pointing at him. "We only just started the fight! There's no way we're ending it this early!"

"Please don't hold back, Minato-kun!" Asuka added as she also stood up. "We wanna have a serious fight, so don't go light with us!"

Well, if that's what they wanted, then he could do that. "Orpheus, Maragion!" The Persona strummed his fingers along the strings of his lyre, which was followed by a series of explosions. The five shinobi quickly got out of the way as explosion after explosion rang out all around them, making them feel the searing heat.

Suddenly, Ikaruga charged out of the flames so fast that she almost looked like a blur, unsheathing her katana and swinging it towards Orpheus. The blade cut into the Personas arm, making Minato grunt in pain when he felt the same pain inflicted upon Orpheus. Yagyū followed up after her by striking Orpheus hard in the chest with the tip of her umbrella, eventually making Minato grunt and Orpheus disappear.

As soon as Orpheus retreated back into his subconscious, Minato saw Asuka close in with her dual wakizashi in hand, prompting Minato to raise his one-handed sword and block her attack. As they each tried to keep the others blades back, Asuka smiled. "You're really good with a sword, Minato-kun."

"You as well." was his reply.

He then noticed Asuka's smile become apologetic. "I wanna say sorry in advance, Minato-kun."

Minato blinked with confusion. What was she apologizing for? He got his answer when he noticed movement out of the corners of his eyes and saw Ikaruga and Katsuragi coming at him from his left and right respectively at incredible speeds. They were fast, he had to admit, and Orpheus wasn't built for speed. He would need a Persona that was just as fast if not faster.

He removed one hand from his sword as he continued to block Asuka's wakizashi and drew his Evoker again, bringing it to his head. "Valkyrie!"

As soon as he pulled the trigger, an armored woman wielding two blades appeared riding a bright red horse, startling Asuka and the others. Valkyrie turned and registered Ikaruga and Katsuragi, who were still on a collision course with him. "Power Slash!" The Persona immediately responded to Minato's command and went at Ikaruga first, swinger one of her sabers and countering the girls attack. "Bufula!" While still blocking Ikaruga's attack, Valkyrie used her other blade and swung it in Katsuragi's direction, unleashing a blast of ice at her.

The blonde's eyes widened and was completely caught off guard when she was struck by the attack, sending her flying back before skidding against the floor. Valkyrie turned her attention back to Ikaruga and swung the same blade at her, forcing the black-haired girl to jump backwards to dodge. With that, Valkyrie quickly spun around on her horse and charged at Asuka, who was still having her own little sparring match with Minato. She was surprised when she saw the Persona coming at her and jumped away to avoid a downward swing from one of Valkyries blades.

Just when he thought he had some breathing room, he then noticed Yagyū and Hibari charging him next. Minato decided to dismiss Valkyrie back into the Sea of Souls and once again trained his Evoker towards his head. "Jack Frost!" A small, snowman-like creature dressed in a blue hat and boots appeared in front of him, giving off a hearty chuckle.

"AW! IT'S SO CUTE!" Hibari's comment resounded through the room, the happiness in her voice nearly making Minato crack a smile again.

"Be careful Hibari. It must be some type of trick." He had to hand it to Yagyū, she was quite the cautious and skilled one, which was what probably made her such a dangerous fighter.

"But look at it Yagyū-chan. It looks really harmless to me." In contrast, Hibari was as innocent as could be and looked like she wouldn't hurt a fly. And for some reason, he could sense something strange from Yagyū every time Hibari spoke to her in a cutesy manner. It was odd indeed, but that wasn't important right now. He would have time to figure that out later.

"Mabufula!" Minato gave the command and Jack Frost raised his arms towards them. Several blasts of ice shot from his hands and flew towards the two, making them both jump back as jagged blocks of ice appeared where they were standing earlier.

Yagyū landed perfectly on her feet while Hibari stumbled before landing on her rear beside her, glaring at Minato with puffed up cheeks. "That was mean, Minato-chan!" she pouted.

"I'm sorry, but it is a fight after all." he said apologetically. He then swiped his arm before giving another command. "Sonic Punch!" Jack Frost laughed as he flew towards them, bringing his fist back as he got in close.

Yagyū quickly got in front of Hibari in a protective manner and opened her oil paper umbrella, blocking the attack. Minato was impressed, her umbrella was more durable than he anticipated. Though it seemed she still fell for his trap.

"Yomotsu-Shikome!" The boy fired his Evoker again, and in Jack Frost's place was a lanky, pale figure with long black hair and dressed in dark robes with a piece of cloth covering its face, making its appearance that much more terrifying. For some reason, as soon as the Persona appeared, Yagyū felt her body suddenly become drained and severely weakened. It seemed Auto-Tarunda was already doing its work.

"Magaru!" Yomotsu-Shikome's hand, which was touching Yagyū umbrella, suddenly released a blast of wind that blew both girls back and sent them tumbling to the floor. "Again, sorry about that."

"Maybe you, but not me!" Minato looked up and noticed Katsuragi dashing towards him before jumping into the air, preparing to strike him with another kick. "Lights out, kid!"

He was inclined to disagree. Minato dismissed Yomotsu-Shikome and brought up his Evoker."Zouchouten!" A green skinned armored man appeared wielding what almost resembled a small pole with sharp, star-shaped ends. As Katsuragi got in close, the Persona of the Chariot Arcana reached out and grabbed her by the leg before her attack could even reach him, shocking her.

"Assault Dive!" Kouchouten tightened his grip on the blondes leg before throwing her towards Ikaruga, who was coming back for another attack. The black haired girl saw Katsuragi coming like a projectile and jumped over her as she crashed into the ground. Ikaruga swung her sword at the Persona, who blocked it again with his own weapon. "Zio!" Kouchouten raised his free hand into the air as a bolt of lightning came crashing down onto the girl, making her cry out as she flew back.

Minato quickly leaned back to avoid a surprise sword swing from Asuka, who swung with her other sword and prompted the boy to block with his one handed sword again. This time though, Minato was able to push her back and stepped back to get some distance between them.

"You're really strong, Minato-kun." Asuka smiled. "Do you wanna be friends after this?"

That was an odd question to ask in the middle of a battle, despite it only being an exhibition battle. She seemed to sense his surprise and continued. "I'm not lying, I really do think you're strong, Minato-kun. And I would really like it if we could be friends. So please?"

Honestly, the way she was giving him those puppy eyes was throwing him off guard. Her smile and positive demeanor were beginning to melt away his stoicism. A part of him really wanted to say yes to her, but he knew he had to remain on guard.

"...Sure?" Damn him and his weak self-control! Not to self: Do NOT underestimate this girls' overwhelming level of cuteness.

"Really?! YES!" she cheered with excitement. "Then lets do our best, Minato-kun!"

Minato nodded and raised his Evoker to his head once more. "Archangel!" From his subconscious, a heavily armored Angel with crimson red wings emerged while wielding a large broadsword. "Sukukaja!" Archangel raised his sword as a green aura briefly surrounded the boy. Already, Minato felt incredibly light as the enhancement spell did its work. "Holy Arrow!" The Persona's sword began to glow with Holy energy before it sprouted its wings and flew towards Asuka with said sword raised.

Asuka retaliated by crossing both of her wakizashi in an X formation and blocking the sword. After a brief stalemate, Archangel was able to overpower the girl and force Asuka to break her defense and jump back as the Persona's blade crashed into the floor.

"Now!" Asuka shouted. At that moment, Minato looked up and saw Ikaruga up in the air with her hand on the grip of her katana, ready to unsheathe it.

 **"Secret Ninja Art - Oukaensen!"**

...What? The next thing he knew, Ikaruga unsheathed her sword, giving it a wide swing and (much to his surprise) unleashing blue flames in the shape of a large phoenix. The phoenix gave a sharp cry as it flew towards him at incredible speeds. Minato knew he had to act fast, but against something like this, he would probably need to up the anti.

"Sati!" A pale skinned woman dressed in a black and gold dress materialized in front of Minato, who held his arm out. "Agilao!" Sati reached out with both hands and unleashed a blast of fire towards the incoming phoenix, causing it to collide and releasing a huge explosion of red and blue flames.

"Me next!" Oh great, Katsuragi had already recovered from her sling across the room. She landed right in front of him in a hand stand. Then (again, much to his surprise), he briefly say the image of a large green eastern dragon appear behind her before she began to spin around on her hands like a top and began to create a huge tornado around herself.

 **"Secret Ninja Art - Tornado Spindle!"**

Another one?! Minato grunted as he covered his face with his arms to keep the wind out of his face. He brought his Evoker to his head and dismissed Sati."Queen Mab!" A female figure with a green and blue striped body and long, fluffy pink hair appeared from his mind. As the tornado came close to Minato, Queen Mab raised one hand and stopped it effortlessly as she employed Null Wind to nullify the damage of the attack. Sparks flew as the savage twister pushed against the Persona's hand. Eventually, the attack receded and Katsuragi jumped back to her feet, looking up at Minato with shock.

"What the-! How'd you do that?!" she exclaimed.

"It's just my way of fighting." he replied calmly."Flauros!" In Queen Mab's place, a giant demonic creature with a leopard head on its chest appeared. "Mighty Swing!" Flauros gave a heavy swing of his arm and struck Katsuragi, sending her flying yet again.

After picking herself off the ground, Katsuragi looked up at him. "That... was awesome!" she exclaimed with excitement. "You really are tougher than I thought! Guess maybe I was wrong about you, kid." Well, at least it seemed he had finally gained her approval. "Still though, this is a fight and it ain't over until one side loses."

"I couldn't agree more."

Katsuragi gave a wide grin. "Y'know, I like you kid. Too bad we gotta beat you. Now Yagyū!" Minato looked up to see the white-haired jump into the air from behind the blonde and opened her umbrella as she pointed it towards him.

 **"Secret Ninja Art - Leg Sweeper!"**

 _'Okay, do all of them have those things?'_ he thought. A giant blue squid appeared from behind her and began to spin rapidly in a fashion similar to Katsuragi while its arms acted almost like a giant saw around it, kicking up a large amount if dust with it. Looks like he had another one to take care of.

"Titan!" This time, another large figure emerged, only this one was more human-like with purple skin, a shaggy white beard, and fully adorned in golden armor on the upper body with a large sword. "Kill Rush!" Titan stomped forward and smashed into the squid with (surprising) enough force to cause it to disperse. Despite that, Titan had been struck by one of the squids tentacles in the process, causing the Persona to vanish as well as making Minato grunt and slightly stagger from the force.

From the sidelines, Kiriya was in utter shock at what he was witnessing. _'He was able to counter all three of those Secret Ninja Art techniques so easily. Just how strong are these Personas?'_

Minato was feeling slightly exhausted. At this rate, he would probably end up using up all of his SP unless he could find a way to end the fight here and now. Still, he didn't want to go too overboard against them, not knowing how they would react if he did.

"Minato-kun, are you still holding back a little?" Asuka asked, much to his surprise. "We already said we wanted you to give us your best, so please don't hold back anymore."

"...Are you sure?" He really didn't want to go too crazy on them unless they were absolutely positive about it.

Hibari smiled brightly. "Of course we are! Lets all do our very best!"

Katsuragi grinned. "You're really tough Arisato, and that makes me wanna fight you at you're very best! So come on, let loose!"

Guess he really didn't have a choice in the matter. If they wanted him to fight harder, than he would. Still though, which Persona could he use to help end this fight quickly.

 ** _"Allow me to test these children."_**

The sudden voice from within his subconscious startled him slightly, but he couldn't help but give off a small smirk. Guess he didn't have to search too hard. Slowly raising his Evoker, he pressed it again his head once more.

"Persona." He pulled the trigger.

 **If it is A Fight You Desire, Than I Shall be More Than Willing to Give You One.**

A booming voice rumbled through the air as a funnel of blue energy churned behind him, a figure slowly taking shape inside of it. A tall, muscular being with dark, crimson red skin and long, dark blue hair began to appear. A long black cape with gold fringes was draped over his shoulders and a large gold medallion hung from his neck. A cloth covered his lower body while his upper body was left bear. A dark grey crown composed of jagged horns rested atop its head and resting over its shoulder was a long blade with multiple sharp points jutting out from each side of the blades edge and curving upwards.

 **For Years I have Trained the Mightiest Warriors Throughout the History of this Prosperous Land. However, I Shall Now Decide Whether You are Worthy to Call Yourselves such.**

The five Hanzō shinobi stepped back as the figure rose to his full height, his imposing frame casting a shadow over them. He removed his blade from his shoulder before stabbing the tip into the ground.

 **You Wish for Him to Not Hold Back. So be it. I, as the Child of the Great Izanagi and the God of Storms, Shall be the One Who Answers your Wish.**

His glowing yellow eyes rested upon the Hanzō girls, who stared back with slack-jawed expressions. He cast a dark grin down at them.

 **I am Susano-o.**

 **And I Shall Deliver Upon You a True Fight.**

* * *

 **(Ending Theme: Beauty of Destiny -P4G Special Mix ver.-)**

 **If you guy haven't guessed by now, Susano-o in this story will essentially play the role of Metatron from** _A Demon Among Devils,_ **being the Persona that Minato will summon in times of political conflict between Good and Evil Shinobi. But since this is Senran Kagura and undoubtedly everyone worships Shinto legend, I will be using the Shinto Gods. I'll probably even add Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi later on down the line, but we'll see.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter and I hope I have lived up to your expectations so far. So if you haven't realized it yet, yes this story was inspired by _A Demon Among Devils,_ but only a few parts were inspired from the actual story, like the scene when Minato first demonstrates his Persona powers to the ****Hanzō Group and when he first summons Susano-o.**

 **Well, I'll see you guys later in the next chapter and I hope you guys liked this one.**

 **This is Godzilla Boy signing off.**

* * *

 **Next Time: The First Conflict**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Senran Kagura!**

 **Hey guys, I'm back with the next chapter! First off, thank you all for your patience in waiting for this chapter. I understand some of you have asked if I had updated this story earlier and no, I didn't, though I did make a few additions to the previous two chapters, so that's the reason the word count rose. Also a quick heads up, I've already started my second semester of college, so my updates are going to be pretty delayed, but I'll keep trying to squeeze in as much free time as I can in between school work to keep my stories up to date.**

 **Anyway, without further delay, lets get back to Minato vs. the Hanzō Girls!**

 **(Opening Theme: Burn My Dread -Spring of Birth ver.-)**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - The First Conflict**

The Hanzō Girls stared in shock and awe as the towering form of Susano-o stood over them, his blade, the Totsuka no Tsurugi, planted firmly into the ground beside him. With his arms crossed over his chest and his cape flapping in a nonexistent breeze, Susano-o glared down at the five shinobi students with a harsh, critical look as he glanced over each of them, as if he were mentally summarizing their skills. From the sidelines, Kiriya was bug-eyed and gaping in shock as he stared up at the Shinto God that was standing in the middle of his training hall.

Ikaruga took a step back in shock. "It can't be..."

"He summoned one of the Shinto Gods?" Yagyū's normally calm demeanor carried equal shock as she stared up at the towering figure.

"A Shinto God?!" Katsuragi looked at the being with a gobsmacked looked. "Are you serious?!"

 **Indeed He Did. I Personally Requested That I be Summoned for This Battle, Since You Five Seem Quite Sure of Your Skills as Warriors. I Have Come to Put You to the Test and Judge Your Worth.**

Susano-o's voice was deep and commanding, filled with authority befitting a god of Japanese mythology. Each word, each syllable, rumbled like thunder, also quite fitting for the one known throughout Japan as the God of Storms.

"So then...you're the real Susano-o?" Ikaruga asked.

 **The One and Only. I am Indeed the Susano-o the Mortals of this World Worship and Revere. The Susano-o Born When My Father, the Great Izanagi, Washed His Face to Cleanse Himself of the Filth After Escaping from the Underworld to Save that Witch of a Wife of His. The Susano-o Who Slew the Eight-Headed Dragon, Yamata-no-Orochi, and the One Who Trained the God Okuninushi to Become the Ruler of the Province of Izumo and Defeat His Wicked-Hearted Siblings.**

"Then it's true." Yagyū said as a serious look returned to her face. "He really is the Susano-o that we know."

Hibari stared up at the god in awe, but also slight fear. "W-What do we do now?"

"It's obvious." Katsuragi gave a fierce grin as she got into a fighting pose. "We fight that thing!"

"You can't be serious Katsuragi-san!" Ikaruga exclaimed. "Of all of your ridiculous ideas, you want to fight the a Shinto God?!"

"Of course I do! How else do you expect us to get stronger?!" the blonde retorted.

 **So You Assume that by Besting Me in Combat, You Will Become Stronger?**

"Hell yeah we will!" Katsuragi replied to Susano-o's question. "We've been training our asses off since coming to this school! Might as well put it to the test and-"

 _ **FOOL!**_

Susano-o's voice shook the room, making the girls nearly loose their footing. They looked back up at Susano-o, meeting his frightening, thunderous glare.

 **Strength and Skill Alone Does not Make a Warrior. Warriors are Also Defined by their Ideals and Character. Skill Alone Will Get You Nowhere in the Warrior's Life.**

Asuka raised her hand, getting the god's attention. "But, um, we're shinobi actually."

 **Ah, Shinobi. Ninja's as They are Often Called. Thieves, Assassins, and Guerrilla Warriors. And Yet, You are Merely Children.**

The brunette of the group tilted her head, looking confused. "So? What's wrong with that?"

The god closed his eyes and shook his head ruefully, as if he were disappointed about something.

 **To Think that Those in Power Would Fall so Low to Train Children to Become Warriors, Especially Shinobi. Have They Truly Fallen so Low that They Would Forcefully Expose the Young Minds of Children to the Hardships and Terrors that Come With a Shinobi's Life? To Think that so Much Would Change in My Absence.**

"Actually, Lord Susano-o," Ikaruga started, causing the God of Storms to turn to her, "We were not forced into this life, but rather born into it. Even so, we all accept the fact that we are shinobi in training and are willing to face whatever hardships face us."

Seeing the nods of agreement from the other girls, Susano-o gave a soft nod of his own.

 **I See. So You are Willing to Accept this Life Knowing the Consequences that Come with it? Very Well then, Prove to Me That You Bear the Knowledge and Skill of True Warriors and I will Acknowledge You as Such.**

"Alright, lets do this!" Asuka declared as she and the others brought up their weapons for battle. "For justice's sake, we will not abide you!"

The five girls all rushed at the god from different direction, but Susano-o remained almost completely still. As he watched them get closer however, the God of Storms slowly lifted his left foot off the ground before stamping it hard on the ground. The result was a powerful shockwave that spread throughout the room, causing the girls to be sent flying in different directions.

As they tried to get back up, Susano-o reached out for the grip of his sword with his right hand and ripping from the ground. With the Totsuka no Tsurugi in hand, Susano-o assumed his own fighting stance as he watched the Hanzō Girls get back up before charging again. Ikaruga jumped into the air with her katana, Hien, raised over her head. Once she had reached Susano-o's head, she swung Hien down at him with all her might. Unfortunately for her, the Shinto God brought up his own blade and effortlessly blocked her sword swing. With little effort, Susano-o swung Totsuka no Tsurugi, breaking the stalemate and sending Ikaruga sailing back before landing on the ground, skidding the rest of the way.

Katsuragi approached next and jumped up like Ikaruga, only this time she unleashed a flurry of kicks at Susano-o, who merely blocked them by raised his left arm. No matter how many powerful kicks she sent at him, the god showed no reaction. As Katsuragi landed back on the ground, Susano-o then brought his left hand back, clenching it into a fist, before bringing down towards her.

"Oh crap!" the blonde cursed before jumping back, just barely missing the fist by a few inches as it impacted the ground and splintered the floorboards. Katsuragi looked up past Susano-o and towards Minato, who watched the conflict with his usual indifferent expression. "Oi, aren't you controlling that thing?! It almost killed me there!"

 **There is Hardly a Need to Worry. The Boy has Given Me Clear Instruction to Merely Test You, Not to Kill You.**

That was somewhat reassuring for the blonde shinobi, but she still felt like that last attack was a close call. It was then that Yagyū rushed past her towards Susano-o, thrusting the tip of her umbrella like a spear at him. As expected, it hardly seemed to do any damage. Susano-o swatted his arm and Yagyū was sent skidding along the ground before stopping beside Hibari, groaning in pain.

"Yagyū-chan!" Hibari shouted as she rushed to her side. "Are you alright Yagyū-chan?"

"Yeah, I'm fine..." she groaned.

The sound of feet hitting the floor alerted Susano-o to looked to his right to see Asuka joined by Ikaruga, who had recovered from her previous sling across the room. Asuka flanked Susano-o's right while Ikaruga approached from his left. What followed after that were two nearly invisible blurs that zoomed all around the gods body while delivering a flurry of slashes every passing second. The two shinobi eventually skidded away from him, but when they looked back up, they were shocked to see not even a single cut on Susano-o's crimson body.

Susano-o propped his sword over his shoulder with a deep frown.

 **If that is the Best You Can Muster, Then I am Far from Impressed.**

Slowly, he lifted the Totsuka no Tsurugi off his shoulder before he raised it high over his head.

 **I will Demonstrate to You What True Power Really is.**

With that, Susano-o swung his blade downwards, striking the ground with enough force to cause another shockwave. The girls quickly jumped out of the way as a diagonal wave of sharply compressed air sliced across the ground towards them before smashing into the wall. Once the Hanzō Girls looked up, they were left shocked at the sight of the aftermath of that last attack.

A long, deep gouge had been carved into the floor that led from Susano-o himself all the way to the other end of the room.

"What on...earth?" Ikaruga was left stunned.

Katsuragi's jaw practically hit the floor. "What the hell was that?!"

"He...did all of that...with just one attack?" Asuka was frozen in place, her knees almost shaking at the overwhelming power the Shinto God had just demonstrated.

"How are we...supposed to beat something like that?" Yagyū inquired as Hibari helped her to her feet.

Hibari herself look quite scared after witnessing what sort of terrifying power the God of Storms truly possessed. "What do we do now?"

Asuka regained her courage and got into another fighting stance. "We can't give up! If we just give up now, we'll never be acknowledged as true shinobi! We HAVE to keep fighting!"

Her declaration seemed to somewhat motivate her comrades as they rallied around her with determined expressions. The sight was enough to earn a nod of approval and a faint smile from Susano-o.

 **Your Courage is Very Commendable. I Respect Any Warrior With that Kind of Strength.**

He brought his sword up and pointed it towards them, a slightly darker smile on his face.

 **But Courage Alone Does not Prove Anything. Defeat Me, and You Will Earn My Acknowledgement.**

* * *

As the Hanzō Girls continued their battle against Susano-o, Minato watched from about a few feet away with his hands in his pockets as usual. As he watched the girls fight his Persona, he couldn't help but feel somewhat impressed with their skill and determination to win. It was clear that they were hoping to be acknowledged as true shinobi from the God of Storms.

Susano-o was the second most powerful Persona of the Fool Arcana behind Orpheus Telos. But despite not being THE strongest Persona in stock, Susano-o always had a very strong presence when he would summon him during his battles with Shadows. Before receiving Orpheus Telos from multiple fusions in the Velvet Room, it was Susano-o that had been one of his regulars. But now that he seemed to have access to every Persona he had ever used, it felt somewhat good to use a Persona he hadn't used in a while.

 _ **"I still think thou should have chosen me for this fight."**_ And as if on cue, Orpheus Telos spoke to him through his subconscious.

 _'Maybe, but I don't think they could handle an Ultimate Persona just yet. Besides, there comes a time when being OP as fuck is unsatisfying.'_ Minato replied mentally. _'...Although, I suppose Victory Cry would be useful for afterwards.'_

 ** _"What about me?!"_** Alice cried.

 _'Because you might want them to die for you. They seem like nice people, especially Asuka-san, and I don't feel comfortable with killing people I've just met.'_

 _ **"Aww, but that makes it boring! They should consider themselves lucky that you haven't unleashed Armageddon on them yet!"**_ Satan declared.

 ** _"I think that would just be overkill, Satan."_** Helel said. _**"While I believe that sinners should be punished, doing something like that to pure souls would be too much."**_

 _'Thank you, Helel.'_ Minato thanked the Seraph. _'But I think I'll stay with Susano-o for now. He seems to have a knack for this kind of thing.'_

 ** _"Grrrrr!"_**

 _'No Thanatos, you can't massacre them. I already said no killing.'_

 _ **"A wise choice indeed."**_ Metatron replied. _**"To take an innocent life without reason is truly a heavy sin to bear."**_

 _ **"Of course you would say that, Metatron."**_ Beelzebub groaned in annoyance. _**"You Archangel's are always so serious. You should let loose once in a while."**_

 _'Alright guys, that's enough."_ Minato said in his head. _'Lets just calm down and focus on the fight. Remind me again why I talk to you guys?'_

 ** _"Because you're lonely! We've been trapped in this world for two months now. How did we even get here anyway?"_** Cybele asked.

 _ **"I'm sure that's something we all want to know Cybele."**_ Asura replied to the goddess. **_"Still though, how did we get here?"_**

 _'Damn if I know, but it's nice to some more friendly company.'_

 _ **"Can I-"**_

 _'No Alice.'_ Alice pouted after that.

The sound of another explosion alerted Minato that Susano-o had gone on the offensive again, this time stabbing his sword onto the ground with enough force to create a mini-crater around him. Apparently, he had tried to target Hibari, but Yagyū managed to save her in the nick of time by picking her up bridal style and leaping away before the blade struck the ground. Then, Minato spotted Ikaruga coming at Susano-o from above while Katsuragi came in from below and unleashed another flurry of slashes and kicks at him, but as he expected, it still wasn't enough to injure him.

Since Susano-o was at a higher power level than the previous Persona's he summoned in this battle, it was to be expected that there wasn't much the girls could do that would harm the Persona. That, and also Susano-o had Absorb Strike and Null Slash on him.

"You guys are doing pretty good." Minato spoke up to the girls, grabbing their attention. "But it's not over yet, so you better be prepared."

Asuka smiled and gave a playful wink to him. "Don't worry Minato-kun! We aren't done yet!"

"Yeah, those were just warm-up shots for me!" Katsuragi added with a toothy grin. "We can still kick some ass!"

Ikaruga nodded. "I have to admit, you commanding a god is impressive, but it won't be enough to turn us away.

Hibari nodded hesitantly. "I-I'm a little scared, but if everyone else is fighting, then I'll try too!"

"Don't be scared, Hibari." Yagyū said to her. "I'll make sure you remain safe."

 ** _"At last! True warriors are among us!"_** Odin cheered.

 _ **"They truly are brave souls."**_ Chi You added. **_"Probably even as brave as the brave soldiers who fought alongside me against the Yellow Emperor."_**

 ** _"You heard them, lad. Give them the fight they desire!"_** Thor declared.

Minato smiled as his Persona's urged him to keep fighting. He looked at Susano-o, who glanced back at him over his shoulder. "You heard them, Susano-o. Ready to keep going?"

Susano-o gave a smirk in reply.

 **Believe Me, Boy. I haven't Even Started Yet. I Will Demonstrate My Full Strength.**

Minato nodded and turned back towards the girls. "Then give it your all. Just don't kill them please."

 **Very Well then. I Will Keep Myself Restrained, if Only a Little.**

The Persona turned back to the Hanzō Girls and lifted Totsuka no Tsurugi, holding it close in a fighting stance. The five shinobi took that as the signal to attack and rushed at him once again. This time however, Susano-o was prepared and raised his sword. Minato brought his hand up towards the oncoming group.

"Susano-o, Vorpal Blade!"

The God of Storms swung his blade as multiple slashes appeared in the air around them and struck them, causing them to scream in pain and making them fly backwards. Ikaruga and Yagyū flipped in mid-air and landed back on their feet before lunging at Susano-o again. Again, Minato had to give them credit for their bravery, but they were about to get a wake-up call.

"Tetrakarn!" Minato shouted out his order, and Susano-o obeyed. Raising his sword out in front of him, a clear barrier manifested in front of him. As Ikaruga and Yagyū struck the barrier, a ripple spread across it and the two girls were suddenly sent flying back again with sharp cries. Minato then noticed Asuka and Katsuragi approaching as well and swiped his arm. "Brave Blade!" Susano-o raised his sword before swinging it downwards at them, forcing the two girls to cease their advance and jumped to the sides as Totsuka no Tsurugi struck the ground, creating a tremor that shook the ground violently.

 _ **"Susano-o is a very formidable opponent."**_ Lucifer commented. _**"They must be either very brave or very foolish if they believe they could ever defeat him."**_

 _ **"Do not** **dismiss their skills so easily now Lucifer."**_ Scathach rebuffed lightly. _**"Let us see what the young ones are capable of first."**_

 _ **"I agree with Scathach. I'm somewhat curious of their abilities myself."**_ Alilat added.

Asuka turned to Minato with a determined smile. "We're not through yet, Minato-kun!" She charged in again before slashing her twin wakizashi at Susano-o's left leg, to which the Persona responded by kicking said leg at her. Surprisingly, she jumped over the kick and landed on his knee before jumping up again and slashing at his chest, earning a grunt of surprise from the Shinto God.

 _ **"Her skill with a blade is rather impressive."**_ Siegfried said in an impressed tone. _**"She may grow into a fine warrior one day."**_

 _ **"Except she's a shinobi, Siegfried."**_ Mother Harlot corrected him.

 _ **"Is there really even a difference?"**_ Attis asked.

 ** _"Indeed, Attis. There are many differences."_** Kohryu said.

Minato ignored the conversation his Persona's were having and watched as Asuka hopped up from Susano-o's chest towards his face before slashing at his face, earning another soft grunt. The God of Storms smirked.

 **Impressive, You Especially have Great Potential if You Were Able to Surprise Me. It Makes Me Want to Give it My All.**

Asuka's eyes widened when Susano-o's hand suddenly appeared in her field of vision before he swung it down at her, swattering her to the ground. The brunette grunted in pain before looking up to see Susano-o bringing his sword up over his head, the tip pointed down towards her. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst to happen, but instead, she felt nothing.

 **But I am Afraid that Will have to Wait for Another Time.**

Asuka's eyes shot open and she looked up to see Susano-o lower his blade to his side with a satisfied look on his face. "Wait...what do you mean?"

"But we can still keep going!" Katsuragi exclaimed, though judging from the slight limp in her step, she wasn't entirely okay.

 **I am Sure that You are. However, I Believe that I have Seen Enough for Now. From What You have Shown Me Today, You have Proven to Me that You are Indeed Skilled. However, I Can Also See that There is Still Room for All of You to Improve Further.**

"What are you saying?" Ikaruga asked with confusion

 **Grow Stronger, in Both Body and Mind. Do that, and I Will Gladly Fight You All Again. But Until that Time Comes, This is Farewell.**

With that, Sunano-o vanished into thin air as he returned to the Sea of Souls, leaving Minato and the Hanzō Girls in a rather awkward silence.

"Well...I guess that's that then." Minato said, trying to break the tension.

"How did you do that?!" Katsuragi suddenly shouted as she appeared right in front of him, making him take a step back in surprise.

"Do what?" he asked, confused about what she was talking about.

"How did you summon a Shinto God, is what I believe she's asking." Ikaruga explained.

"Well...he's one of my Persona's."

Yagyū raised an eyebrow. "One of your Persona's is a god?"

"Several of them are, actually. My Persona's usually take the form of ancient deities, mythological monsters and historical figures." Minato explained.

"Really? That sounds amazing!" Hibari beamed. "You're super strong Minato-chan!"

Minato couldn't help but smile a little at the bubbly girls compliment. He then felt a hand clap on his shoulder and saw Katsuragi grinning at him. "I guess I owe you an apology. I was wrong about you, you really do know how to handle yourself."

He was slightly taken aback by the blonde's apology. He hadn't expected the girl that originally seemed to hate him the most out of all five of them would suddenly be so accepting of him so fast. At least now he knew they were on good terms.

"Thank you, Katsuragi-senpai."

The girls seemed surprised at how Minato had addressed her so formally, but Katsuragi simply waved her hand with a somewhat sheepish look. "Hey, hey. You don't have to be so formal. Katsuragi's just fine."

He nodded. "Okay then, Katsruagi-san."

The blonde sweat dropped at his continuous formality. "We...might need to work on that."

Asuka came up to Minato and smiled. "That was a really fun battle, Minato-kun. I hope you and I can do that again some time."

"Maybe." he replied. "We'll see how Susano-o feels about it."

The brunette nodded before her smile suddenly widened. "So, Minato, you know what this means now, right?"

The boy blinked with confusion before it suddenly hit him.

"Oh...right."

Asuka nodded. "Yep! As of now, we're officially friends!"

"Yay! Minato-chan's our friend now!" Hibari cheered. "Can you come over and visit us sometime?"

"Hold on for a moment, Hibari-san." Ikaruga interrupted. "It's not standard shinobi protocol to allow civilians to be this aware of our secret life. It could be dangerous for him."

"I think we can make an exception." They all turned to see Kiriya approaching them. "It's true that Arisato-san here has a very unique ability. However, I believe that we can trust him with our secret."

Minato was surprised at how Kiriya was willing to allow him to remain this aware of the school's shadowy side despite him being a stranger. "Are you sure it's okay for me to stay this close to you all?"

Kiriya nodded. "I'm sure of it. As long as you can keep what you've seen a secret from others, then everything will be fine."

 _ **"They seem to be very accepting of you."**_ Melchizedek commented. _**"This could be good for you."**_

 _'How so?'_ Minato mentally asked.

 ** _"This could be your chance to make more friends in this world. You have been rather lonely since coming here."_** Norn explained.

 ** _"I agree with Norn. Making new connections in this world could be helpful for you until we find a way back to the Great Seal."_** Sandalphon added.

Minato internally agreed with his Persona's when he looked over to see Asuka with her hand out and a smile on her face. "Lets all get along, Minato-kun!" Seeing the other girls behind her nodding in agreement, Minato nodded back and took her hand in a handshake.

"Sure. I'm looking forward to our time together." he said with a small smile.

 _ ***CRACK***_

 _ **Though art I... And I am thou...**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond...**_

 _ **It shalt further stretch your Universe**_

 _ **Thou shalt have our blessings when thou chooses**_

 _ **To create a Persona of the Fool Arcana...**_

In the moment of the words, time was still. A card then appeared in his view with the number 0, the Arcana number of the Fool. The mysterious voice that he had heard many time before while developing the bonds with his previous Social Links rang out through his mind telling him of a new bond.

 _ **"A new bond?! But how is that possible?!"**_ Surt exclaimed.

 _ **"There must be a reason. It would be wise to ask those three in the Velvet Room about this."**_ Yurlungur advised.

 _'Good idea.'_ Minato replied as the card disappeared and time returned to normal.

"Minato-kun? Are you alright?" The boy blinked and saw that the girls were staring at him with confusion. He must've been spacing out without him knowing.

Minato nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel a little tired. I think I'll head home for today."

"That's fine. We have been here for quite a while." Kiriya nodded.

Hibari raised her hand in a shy manner. "Ano...do you want us to walk home with you, Minato-chan?"

"Sure. I would appreciate the company." he replied with a grateful smile that made the pinkette blush a little.

"N-No problem!"

* * *

It was already late afternoon by the time Minato and the Hanzō Girls returned to the boys apartment. After allowing the girls into his room to rest, the girls settled in his living room as they observed the interior of the room.

"I've gotta say Minato, you've got a pretty sweet place here." Katsuragi commented as she sat on the couch next to Ikaruga. "But how do you pay for it?"

"Actually, I don't." Minato replied from the kitchen, which was connected to the living room.

Asuka looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean you don't?"

"I work at a pretty successful restaurant part-time, and the old couple that runs it use some of the money they earn to pay for my apartment while I work for them in exchange. They were also the ones who helped me enroll at Hanzō Academy."

"Does that make them your guardians then?" Yagyū asked curiously as she leaned against the wall, her umbrella resting beside her.

Minato somewhat hesitated to answer that question. "...No, I still prefer to live independently. I find the sense freedom comfortable."

"I get what you mean by that." Katsuragi said. Then a rather loud growl filled the room and everyone turned towards the blonde, who rubbed the back of her head with look of slight embarrassment. "Sorry, I forgot to eat lunch earlier today."

"That's because all you could think about was fighting Minato-kun, Katsu-nee. You need to take better care of yourself." Asuka lightly scolded from the couch across from her

To her slight surprise, Katsuragi responded with a lecherous grin as she slowly got up from her seat. "Oh, don't worry Asuka. I'll take care of myself just fine. But do you know what would make me feel much better?" Before she could even give the brunette a chance to say anything, she vaulted over the coffee table and somehow got behind Asuka as she started to grope her breasts. "By feeling how much your love muffins have grown since the fight!"

"Kya! K-Katsu-nee, stop! Not in front of Minato-kun!" Asuka exclaimed as Katsuragi fondled her breasts through her shirt.

"..." Minato blinked at the scene with a rather perplexed expression before he turned to the others. "Does Katsuragi-san always do this?"

Ikaruga nodded while pinching the brim of her nose. "Unfortunately, yes. Katsuragi-san has always had a nasty habit of groping other girls' breast."

"Apparently she calls it her 'hobby'." Yagyū added.

"Yet Katsuragi-san has always seemed to be interested in boys despite her hobby." Hibari also put in.

 _ **"Wait, she gropes other girls, and yet she's NOT a lesbian?"**_ Satan asked.

Helel sighed at his remark. _**"You're as perverted as ever, Satan."**_

 _ **"What?! Why are you singling me out?! If anyone else here is a major pervert, it's Beelzebub!"**_

 _ **"Hey! Don't go dragging me into this! The biggest pervert out of us HAS to be Mara!"**_

Minato shuddered slightly at the mention of THAT Persona, so he blocked out their arguing as he looked back to see Katsuragi still fondling Asuka. "...Shouldn't we stop her before it escalates?"

"Probably a good idea." Yagyū said. "But when Katsuragi starts groping Asuka, there's no stopping her."

The bluenette gave a small smile. _'Oh, I think I beg to differ, Yagyū-san.'_ He turned back towards the blond and the brunette and spoke loud enough so that they could hear him over Asuka's screams.

"Katsuragi-san, if you're hungry, I could cook you all something."

The others stared at him with surprise and even Katsuragi paused to turn towards him. "Seriously?!"

"Sure, I don't mind at all. Besides, consider it my thanks for helping me out when I passed out after taking care of those puppets."

The others were surprised by Minato's display of gratitude towards them. They hadn't expected him to offer to do something like that for them. Ikaruga raised her hand. "Are you certain, Minato-san? We wouldn't to make you feel like we're taking advantage of your hospitality."

To her surprise, he shook his head. "You're not taking advantage of anything, Ikaruga-senpai. I'd be more than happy to make you all something as thanks for your help. It's the proper thing to do after all."

The raven-haired girl's face became slightly flushed after hearing him say that. "W-Well, if you insist on it."

"So," Minato began, "do you all have any recommendations?"

Asuka waved her hand in the air. "Oh, I'll have futomaki rolls!"

"Just some green tea will do for me." Ikaruga answered

"Ramen for me!" Katsuragi called.

"...Dried squid." Yagyū replied.

"Ooh! Can I have some sweets if you have any? Please?!" Hibari asked with a pleading look.

 _'...Looks like I might have to drop by the store for this one.'_

 ** _"Honestly, why bother? Just kick them out and let 'em starve."_**

 _'Satan!'_

 ** _"What?!"_**

* * *

After a quick run to the market, Minato was able to prepare everyone exactly what they ordered as the five girls all sat at the bar that separated the living room from the kitchen. It had taken a while for him to prepare everyone's meals, but thankfully he was able to finish it just as it reached sunset. He wanted to make sure that the girls would be able to leave while it was still somewhat light out.

"Here you all go. Enjoy." Minato placed the food each of the girls recommended in front of them. The Hanzō Girls gave their thanks to the bluenette before they all clapped their hands together in unison.

"Itadakimasu~!" Soon, they began to dig into the food served to them, with all of them giving hums and moans of approval at how delicious the food was.

Asuka took a big bite out of the futomaki roll Minato prepared and moaned with a flushed expression. "This tastes amazing, Minato-kun! I didn't know you could make a futomaki roll as good as Jii-chan!"

Minato took the complement with a smile, but was curious about that last part. "Your Ojii-san makes futomaki rolls?"

The girl nodded eagerly. "Yeah! He and Otou-chan run a sushi restaurant and make them all the time! You should come over some time and try them!"

Katsuragi, after slurping up a clump of noodles from her bowl, gave a wry smirk at her. "Oh, already wanting to bring him over to meet your folks, Asuka? You know, that's usually was couples do when they start taking the next step."

Asuka turned to the blonde with a gaped expression, her cheeks burning bright red. "W-What are you talking about, Katsu-nee?! I just wanted him to try the food my family makes! Besides, we haven't even known each other for that long!"

"Plus we're not even dating." Minato added flatly.

"Exactly!" Asuka said.

Katsuragi pouted slightly at the fact that her plan didn't work, but she shrugged it off rather quickly to get back to her ramen. She would get them next time.

Yagyū took a bit out of the dried squid Minato prepared for her and looked surprised as she chewed it with flushed cheeks, which Hibari noticed right away.

"What is it Yagyū-chan?" she asked.

The white-haired girl just stared at the squid as if she was staring at one of the Seven World Wonders, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape.

"This...this is really good." she finally managed to let out. "I don't think I've had dried squid that tasted this good."

Minato looked pleased by her review. "If you like it that much, I could make you more if you'd like."

Yagyū looked stunned and her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of pink as she looked away shyly. "Th-That would be nice. Thank you."

Minato nodded in response and the next few minutes was filled with nothing but awkward silence as the girls continued to eat and the bluenette just stood there sipping a cup of water. Finally, Ikagura looked up at the boy after taking a sip of her tea.

"I've been curious about something Minato-san."

"Hmm?"

"How exactly did you first get you powers?"

Minato almost did a spit-take after hearing her ask that question, but managed to hold it in. He then noticed that the others were looking at him with curious expressions, waiting for him to respond. _'How am I supposed to answer that question? I was expecting them to probably ask, but not this soon?'_

 ** _"Just answer truthfully."_** Kohryu advised. _**"Be truthful with them and they will do the same in return."**_

 ** _"Agreed. That would be the wise choice to make."_** Metatron added _**"In order to build stronger bonds, you must be willing to put your trust in each other."**_

 _'That's true. Thanks guys.'_ Minato regained his composure as he answered. "Well you see, the only way for one to be able to use a Persona is to first awaken to it, basically by overcoming your malevolent inner-thoughts. Once that happens, you can awaken to a Persona, though it's not really something one can do consciously, so you'll never know when it will actually awaken. Then the only way to summon it is to shoot yourself in the head with an Evoker."

As he said that, he pulled out said contraption and placed it on the table for the girls to see. Hibari looked up at him. "Does it shoot actual bullets?"

"No, it doesn't."

"But isn't it scary?" Ikaruga asked while staring at the gun-shaped object with an unsure look. "Even if it isn't a real gun, doesn't it scare you that your're basically committing mock-suicide.?"

"Not really, because death isn't really that scary to me."

Now they all were staring at him as if he had just said something crazy, which to people other than himself or his friends at S.E.E.S., he might as well have.

"What do you mean you're not scared of dying?" Katsuragi asked. "I'm sure a lot of people would be scared to die."

Minato could understand why they would think that, but if they knew about all of the things he went through as a child, then they would probably get his reasons. So he decided to share a little more about his real past.

"After my parents died in that car crash, I was forced to move around a lot for the next ten years, moving from relative to relative. Basically, I started to grow really apathetic as that went on and I guess I just started to not really care much about whether I was alive or not. But it was that acceptance of death and knowledge of mortality that was part of the reason how I managed to awaken to my Persona. I still want to keep living, but at the same time I won't let something like death scare me like most other people."

There was another silence that followed as the girls let his words sink in, but it was quickly broken by Asuka who smiled at him. "You're really brave, Minato-kun."

"Hmm?"

"To not be afraid of dying, it probably takes a lot of bravery." Ikaruga clarified. "We're shinobi, so the fact that we might one day die is something we have to live with. But that's part of choosing this life, we may one day die while we're still young."

"I see..." Minato said with a small nod of understanding. "It seems like you have a really rough future ahead for you."

Asuka nodded. "Yep, but I know we'll make it through to the end as long as we look out for each other."

Minato couldn't help but smile a little upon hearing the brunettes words. She somewhat reminded him of himself after he met S.E.E.S., someone who looked out for her friends and put their safety above her own.

Ikaruga glanced towards the wall clock and noticed that it was starting to get late. "It looks like we have to head home. We should hurry before it gets too dark."

"Oh crap!" Katsuragi quickly shoveled down what was left of her ramen before slamming the bowl down. "Thanks for the meal, Minato! That really was good!"

"No problem." he replied.

Ikaurga stood up an gave a polite bow to him. "We're thankful for your hospitality Minato-san. Perhaps we'll see each other after school sometime."

Minato nodded with a slight smile. "Maybe."

Hibari finished taking a bite of her last piece of candy and waved as the group headed for the door. "Thanks Minato-chan! Lets hang out again sometime!"

"Thank you for the food." Yagyū said as she grabbed her umbrella and headed for the door with the others.

Asuka looked back at him with a wide smile and waved as well. "We'll see you later, Minato-kun!"

"See you." With that, the five shinobi girls walked out the door and headed home, leaving Minato in his quiet apartment once again. The boy let out a loud sigh as he flopped down on the couch lazily. "What a long day."

 _ **"Tell me about it."**_ Thor agreed with him. _**"So, what do you think?"**_

"Think if what?"

 _ **"He means those girls."**_ Scathach clarified for him. _**"They do seem to have potential at becoming great warriors."**_

"That's true." Minato frowned as he adjusted himself so that he was looking up at the ceiling. "Still though, for them to know that one day they may die young in the line of duty. It's kind of sad."

 _ **"And this is coming from the guy who for 10 years of his life never saw anything scary about death."**_ Surt commented.

 _ **"Be nice Surt."**_ Mother Harlot lightly scolded. _**"Experiencing the kind of trauma he did can have those kinds of effects on the mind."**_

 _ **"Agreed. But besides that, what are you going to about them?"**_ Asura asked, referring to the girls.

"I guess for now I'll accept their offer. It would be nice to make new friends." Minato replied. "I just hope nothing goes bad."

 _ **"I wouldn't count on that."**_ Cybele said. _**"Trouble does seem to have a nasty habit of following you around a lot."**_

Minato frowned again as Cybele's words almost sounded foreboding. Turning to lay on his side, he began to drift off to sleep.

 _'Lets just hope it's not anytime soon.'_

* * *

The next day at Hanzō Academy, it was currently the lunch period as a majority of the students went out to eat with their friends and classmates. Minato was spending his lunch period sitting in his homeroom like some of his other classmates and looking through a book. He had accidentally slept in that morning and didn't have enough time to make something for lunch before school started, so he opted to not bring anything with him.

He was slowly beginning to regret that decision.

His stomach felt very empty and it was starting to make him lose his focus, though he tried his best to bear with it until school ended.

 _'Goddamn, I feel so hungry.'_ Minato mentally grunted while struggling to maintain his stoic expression.

 _ **"That's what you get for oversleeping."**_ Attis said in a matter-of-fact tone. _**"Maybe you should have actually woken up early rather than sleep through your alarm, then this wouldn't be happening."**_

 _'Hey, I was really tired.'_ the boy defended. _'I had a long day yesterday and I just wanted to sleep it off.'_

 ** _"Still though, you need to eat something or you're going to starve yourself."_** Norn pointed out.

 _'Yeah, but how?'_

"Hey Minato-kun~!" a cheerful voice shouted from behind him.

Before the boy could move to see who had called for him, he was suddenly pulled into a hug from behind and he felt the back of his head getting shamelessly pressed by a pair of large breasts.

 _ **"There's your answer right there."**_ Satan chuckled in a sly tone.

Ignoring the Persona's comment, he focused his attention on the person hugging him while trying to keep himself from blushing from the contact. In the entire two months he had been going to Hanzō Academy, he knew only one other student who would greet him this way.

"Hello Fukuhara-kaichou."

In terms of popularity, Emiko Fukuhara was easily in the top five among the female students. She was a third-year student and also just so happened to be the Student Council President. She had bright blue eyes and long brown hair that reached her waist, her hair tied into a long braid with a red bow tied at the end. Her outfit consisted of the normal Hanzō Academy uniform, though she also wore a bright pink short-sleeved sweater over her white dress shirt.

He didn't know what triggered it, but ever since he enrolled at this school, she would always cling to him whenever they ran into each other. Therefore, he would make sure to avoid her while in public.

One thing was for sure though: She was absolutely NOTHING like Mitsuru.

Emiko gave a rather adorable pout. "Mou, Minato-kun! You always call me that when we run into each other! At least call me Emiko-chan when you see me!"

"Sorry, not happening." Minato replied flatly. "If I called you that in public, it would probably start a lot of unnecessary rumors"

"Oh, let the people say whatever they want, I don't care." Emiko smiled as she continued to hug him. "Besides, everyone already knows that you're my favorite kohai~!"

Minato frowned when he realized that they were slowly gaining a lot of attention from everyone else in the room. "Fukuhara-kaichou, please let go."

"It's 'Emiko-chan', Minato-kun." she corrected him. "And no, I'm not gonna let go. By the way, did you already eat lunch?"

"I didn't have time to make one. I overslept and couldn't make one before school started." he said in his defense.

Even though he couldn't see her face, he could still somehow tell that she was no doubt wearing an wide grin on her face, as if she had been hoping for that reply.

"Oh, that absolutely won't do Minato-kun. You need to eat to focus in class. Which is why..." She moved one arm away from him as she reached for something before slamming something down onto his desk. "I made this for you!"

Minato blinked as he noticed that Emiko had just put a blue bento box right in front of him. To say he was pleasantly surprised was an understatement.

"You...didn't have to do this, Fukuha-" He felt the girls grip around him slightly tightened, pushing the back of his head further into her bust. "I mean, Emiko-senpai."

"Close, but not quite. Besides that though, I just wanted to make my cute little kohai something special today."

"FUKUHARA-KAICHOU!"

The two turned to see Kazuyo and Eito standing at the doorway of the classroom, with the former apparently being the source of the scream.

"Oh, Kazuyo-chan and Eito-kun, what a surprise." Emiko said with a beaming smile. "Care to join us?"

"What are you doing, Fukuhara-kaichou?!" Kazuyo shouted again as she marched up to them with an annoyed expression while her face was also bright red, though it was hard to tell if it was from either anger or embarrassment.

The other girl cocked her head in a cute manner. "What do you mean? It's obvious that I'm spending some time with my favorite kohai~"

Kazuyo's cheeks puffed with frustration. "Don't you think that maybe Minato-kun is uncomfortable with the position your putting him in? Besides, you're the Student Council president. You should be taking your post seriously!"

"I am taking it seriously." she replied with an innocent look. "Besides, if were like most presidents and acted all bossy and mean to everyone, then there wouldn't be any fun in it. I wanna be a president that makes her fellow students smile all the time!" Her hug on Minato became even tighter and now he was actually starting to find it harder for him to breath.

"Stop it, Kaichou! Minato-kun's getting red!" the other girl stated pointing to the boys face.

Emiko blinked before a sly smirk appeared on her face. Without saying a word, she moved around so that she was to Minato's right, grabbed the sides of his face with her hands and-

 _GLOMP!_

...Shoved his face right into her chest.

"Aw~ There, that'll make you feel all better, Minato-kun~" Emiko said in a sweet baby voice as she ignored the sounds of every boy in the room falling to the ground in utter shock and screaming in a jealous rage while the girls could only stare with shocked and flushed faces upon seeing one of their idols doing something so shameless to a boy. Minato himself felt his loss of air increasing as he flailed his arms desperately.

Kazuyo's face was so red now that it was steaming and looked to be on the verge of catching fire, while Eito began to tremble with a look of pure, utter jealousy on his face.

"STOP IT, KAICHOU~!"

"NEVER~!"

"Arisato, you lucky bastard."

 _'...Never thought I would die like this.'_

 _ **"Hey, it's the best kind of way to die."**_

 _'Shut up, Satan.'_

* * *

With the school day finally over, Minato tried to get as far away from the school as fast as possible to avoid running into his two friends or Emiko after school. He couldn't really remember much of what happened after what Emiko did, probably because he did everything in his power to block the memory during the rest of class.

Once he felt he was far enough, he slowed his pace and decided to take a short walk around the still-crowded streets of Asakusa. He almost forgot how beautiful the city looked in the late afternoon and wanted some time to take some time to enjoy it. However, there was something thing that somewhat bothered him. He hadn't been summoned to the Velvet Room last night or the night before, and he had some questions for Igor about the recent Social Link he had forged with the Hanzō Shinobi yesterday.

Still, how could he be able to establish new Social Links? Did something happen to his old ones? Last time he visited, Igor told him he still had all of the Persona's he had acquired from his previous Social Links, so something must have happened for him to be able to gain new ones.

At that moment, Minato noticed a sparkle of blue light out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw a small, blue butterfly fluttering through the large crowd before disappearing into an alley way. The boy quickly made his way through the crowd to follow the butterfly, but when he entered the alley, it was empty aside from a few scraps of garbage on the ground. Walking up to the blank wall at the other end of the alley entrance, he placed his hand on the smooth concrete with a confused expression.

"Just how much longer do I have to wait?"

"Not for much longer, actually."

Minato quickly spun around at the sound of the new voice and saw a man who appeared to be around his late 20's or early 30's standing before him. He was tall and lean with short white hair and bright yellow eyes, similar to Elizabeth and Margaret. He wore a black-collared, long-sleeved shirt under a blue suit with blue necktie, black pants with blue lines running through the sides, black shoes, and a hat much similar to Elizabeth's. And like her and Margaret, he carried a book under his left arm.

Just his appearance alone was enough to give it away to Minato.

"I'm guessing you must be a resident of the Velvet Room?"

The man nodded as he dipped his head politely. "Indeed. My name is Theodore, but you may call me Theo. I am another who resides within the Velvet Room. I have been ordered by my Master to greet you."

"Does that mean Igor knows I need to talk to him?" Minato asked.

"Correct. He also asked that I give you this." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a golden key with a blue V on the handle. "As you must already know, this is the Velvet Key, which grants you access to the Velvet Room."

The boy nodded as Theodore handed him the key. "Thank you, but where is the Velvet Room?"

Theodore smiled. "Why behind you, of course."

Blinking with confusion, Minato turned back around and saw that the concrete wall had been replaced by a set of fancy dark blue double doors.

"...Pretty convenient." he said flatly.

"Indeed." Theodore replied. "My Master awaits to speak with you."

"Thanks." Minato took the key and held up towards the door before pausing and turning back towards Theodore. "If you don't mind, I have a quick question."

The Velvet attendant nodded. "Yes? What is it?"

"Are you related to Elizabeth or Margaret-san in any way?"

He seemed somewhat surprised at the question, but nodded again. "Indeed I am. They are my older sisters."

Now it was Minato's turn to blink. Elizabeth and Margaret were his _older_ sisters? He had originally suspected that perhaps Elizabeth would have been the younger one, given how mature he seemed and how eccentric Elizabeth was. He could definitely see Margaret as being the oldest, but seriously, Elizabeth being older than Theodore?

 _'Guess you learn something new everyday.'_

Deciding to not keep Theodore or Igor waiting, Minato faced the door and placed the key in the key hole. As soon as he did, his vision was filled with white.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Before Minato knew it, he was back in the Velvet Room, sitting before Igor with Elizabeth and Margaret by his side. Surprisingly though, he noticed that the room had changed. The endlessly-rising elevator that he had grown accustom to was now an open room. No, it was glass. All of the walls were made of glass which were lined with velvet borders and divisions. Above was a literal blue moon which shown velvet light. It was also unusually large. Behind the pane of glass wall to his left was a large expansive city that resembled Asakusa, while to his right was a dark purple city that looked like Port Island. Other than that, the room itself was just as furnished before; nothing else was added.

"What happened to this place?" Minato asked.

"As you probably know, the Velvet Room is a place that reflects the destiny of those who are contracted to it. It has changed to reflect the new direction your life leads." Igor explained. "But aside from that, I understand that you have some questions, yes?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, but I'm guessing you already know."

Igor grinned and gave a small wave of his hand. Appearing in a brief flash of light, the Fool Arcana floated above the table between the two. Igor folded his hands as he observed the card with interest.

"Well, this is certainly an oddity." he said to himself.

"What is it?" Minato asked, feeling slightly anxious.

"It would seem that there has been a slight change in your Arcana's." Igor revealed. "Although the bonds you forged from your previous Social Links are still present, it would appear that new room has been made to create new bonds as well."

Minato flashed a look of surprise. Room to create new bonds? In this world? How was that even possible, and for what reason?

"How is that possible?"

Igor shook his head. "Alas, even I do not have an answer, for this is the first I have ever witnessed such a thing." He looked up at Minato with his usual grin. "All I do know is that it seems that not only will these new bonds give you access to new Persona's, but they may also serve to further empower the ones you currently wield."

Now that caught Minato by surprise. _'Further empower my Persona's? Then it's still possible for them to get even stronger?'_

"It would seem that you will have to once again make more Social Links if you wish to get stronger." Elizabeth said.

Margaret nodded. "As you no doubt already know, you will have to seek out and befriend others in order to enact the Social Links. Speak with them, guide them through their struggles, and in return, those experiences will further enhance your abilities."

Minato recalled the first time he had been told about Social Links. At first, he didn't quite know how to feel about them. On one hand, talking and becoming friends with others was nice, but on the other hand it felt like he was just using those friendships to further improve his own strength. However, it wasn't until around the battle with the Twelfth Arcana Shadow that he began to see just how much his interaction with his bonds helped not only him grow stronger, but helped them grow as well.

Plus, it was those bonds that he forged and his resolve to protect them that helped him in defeating and sealing away Nyx. No matter what though, even after he was forced to become the Great Seal, he still remembered them, and always would.

"It would appear that this new bond you recently forged by you gaining the trust of those five girls." Igor spoke, snapping Minato out of his thoughts. "Continue to further interact with them, and your bonds with them will grow stronger in return."

The boy nodded as the card floated back towards him. He took the card as it disappeared into light and flowed back through him. "Thank you for explaining Igor. I'll visit again when I need help."

Igor nodded with a smile. "Of course young man. Until next time."

* * *

Minato blinked and he was once again back in the empty alley, with the door to the Velvet Room still there. Placing his hand inside his pocket, he felt the smooth metal of the Velvet Key still in there. At least now he had a way of getting to the Velvet Room whenever he needed to.

Looking around, he saw that Theodore was no where to be found, no doubt having gone back to the Velvet Room with the others. He turned and walked out of the alleyway and saw that it was still late afternoon, as if no time had passed during his time in the room. Checking his mp3 player, he saw that indeed it was still the same time, around 4:37.

 _'I should probably buy some stuff at the market before heading home.'_

"Hey, Minato-kun!" a familiar voice called out to him.

Turning around, Minato was pleasantly surprised to see Asuka and the other Hanzō Shinobi approaching him, all dressed in their school uniforms.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"We were just heading home and saw you." Ikaruga replied. "Also, what were you doing in the alleyway?"

...Crap, so they saw him, huh? Though it was highly unlikely they would notice the Velvet Room door, for only those who were actually contracted could see it. That explained why whenever he visited during the Dark Hour, it always looked like he was just staring at the walls of Tartarus.

"I...saw a stray cat go through there and followed it, but it got away before I could see if it needed help." he said, making up a story believable enough for them.

It seemed to work as they all nodded in understanding. "You're so nice, Minato-chan. I'm sure that kitty would've been very happy." Hibari said with a smile.

"Yeah, maybe." he replied, taking it with stride.

"Say Minato-kun, want us to walk you home again?" Asuka suddenly asked, catching the boy slightly off guard.

"Are you sure that's okay with you?" he asked with an unsure expression. "I don't want to make it feel like I'm forcing you to."

Katsuragi suddenly approached him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder with a grin. "Hey, she asked nicely, and we don't really mind anyway. So c'mon, lets go to your place and chill, 'kay?"

Minato let out a soft sigh through his nose, knowing that they weren't going to take a no as an answer. Instead of trying to fight it though, he chose to resign himself to his fate.

"Alright, I guess it's fine." he replied. "Do you want me to make you some dinner too?"

"Yes please~!" they all replied at once with smiles.

Minato rolled his eyes. This was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

"Mmm~ This is so good~!" Hibari squealed as she sucked on a large lollipop while Yagyū quietly took a bite of her dried squid, silently contemplating how delicious it was.

"I'll say!" Katsuragi added while slurping up a clump of her noodles. "Minato's cooking is so good! We should make him our exclusive cook from now on!"

Ikaruga gave her a serious look. "Katsuragi-san, we can't just take advantage of Minato-san and force him to cook for us every day." She took another sip of the tea he had made for her and gave off a small blush. "Although, I will admit his cooking is really good..."

Minato nodded, taking her words as a complement. "Thank you, Ikaruga-senpai. I'm glad you like it."

The raven-haired girl's blush became slightly deeper as she looked away. "Y-You're welcome, Minato-san."

As the girls continued to eat quietly, Minato noticed that Asuka was quiet the whole time and was staring at her now empty plate with a somber look.

"Asuka-san?"

"Huh?" she asked, her head perking up slightly when Minato called her.

"Is something wrong? Was the food not good?"

Asuka quickly shook her head. "N-No! It was good! It was really good! I'm just thinking about things."

Ikaruga sighed and put her cup down back on the table. "Asuka-san, there's no need to be so impatient. I'm sure you'll find your Secret Animal soon if you continue to train hard enough."

"Yeah, Asuka-chan! If I was able to get mine, then I'm sure you will too!" Hibari said in a reassuring tone.

As everyone tried to help Asuka out of her slight funk, Minato just looked on with confusion, feeling out of place in this situation. "Um, what's this about?"

"Oh! Sorry Minato, I guess you wouldn't know since you weren't there." Katsuragi apologized before she began to explain. "You see, Kiriya-sensei had Asuka and Hibari go through special training to unlock their Secret Animals. Hibari was able to get it down, but Asuka's having a bit of trouble though."

Minato thought about that for a moment before he suddenly remembered. "Oh yeah, you mentioned the Secret Animal's before. Could you please explain that in more detail?"

"Of course, Minato-san." Ikaruga replied. "As Kiriya-sensei explained to you before, a Secret Animal is something that shinobi draw their power from and can only be awoken when the shinobi imagines the animal that they feel they connect with. They can either be imaginary ones of ancient myth or ordinary animals that already exist. They also help us harness our Secret Ninja Arts."

"'Secret Ninja Arts'?" Minato repeated with slight confusion. "What's that?"

"They're basically a shinobi's super-move." Katsuragi clarified. "We basically harness the power of our Secret Animal and then unleash it into a special move to help beat the snot out of whoever our enemies are. We used them during our fight, remember?"

"Oh right, you did." Minato realized. "I was wondering what those moves you used were. What are your Secret Animals anyway?"

Katsuragi puffed up her chest with a proud smile. "Well I don't mean to brag, but mine's a dragon!"

"Mine is a phoenix." Ikaruga revealed.

"...Squid." Yagyū said in between bites of her food.

"And mine's a bunny! A pink bunny!" Hibari added happily.

 ** _"She somewhat reminds me of that other pink one that you fought alongside."_** Cybele commented.

Minato could agree with that. Hibari did somewhat remind him of Yukari, mostly with how much they both seemed to love pink. A part of him wished that they could meet one day, but that idea was completely impossible, so he pushed the thought aside.

"So I'm guessing that means that Asuka-san is the only one that doesn't have one then."

"Yeah..." Asuka replied while lying her head on the table with a disappointed expression. "At this rate, Jii-chan will be disappointed in me if I don't find my Secret Animal."

Minato raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What about him?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know yet." Katsuragi realized. "Well you see, our little Asuka here is actually the granddaughter of the legendary shinobi, Hanzō."

Again, the boy looked confused. "Hanzō? As in our school?"

Ikaruga nodded. "That's right. Hanzō-sama was a very talented good shinobi and the school was named after him as a way to honor him for his heroism."

Minato turned towards Asuka and gave a small smile. "You must be proud of him if he was considered a hero."

"I am, but I'm worried I won't live up to his name." Asuka said with a sigh. "At this rate, I'll never be as good as he was."

"Don't say that Asuka-san. Everyone grows at their own pace, so just keep believing and I'm sure you'll get there one day."

The brunette smiled slightly at the boys words of encouragement. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks Minato-kun."

"Anytime."

"Minato." Yagyū spoke up, getting the boys attention. "You wouldn't happen to be busy tomorrow, would you?"

Minato blinked a few times before realization came to him. "Oh right, it's Sunday tomorrow, so there won't be any school. Well, I don't have to come in for work until the day after, so I suppose my day's free. Why do you ask?"

Yagyū looked away with a rather embarrassed expression on her face. "Well, would you like to...spend the day with us?"

The other girls looked at her with surprised looks while Minato let the question sink in for a few seconds before shrugging. "If it's fine with all of you. Though I wouldn't want to make you feel like my presence will distract you from your training."

"Oh, that won't be a problem Minato-kun." Asuka replied. "I'm sure it'll be fine if your there with us."

Not seeing any reason to deny their offer, he nodded. "Alright, I guess I'll be there. But where will I find you guys. Isn't the entrance to your hideout pretty secret?" He recalled that Kiriya had brought him to the Ninja Room for his match with the girls, but made sure that he wouldn't know where the entrance was by having him be blindfolded when he brought him.

"Just meet us in the old school building. I'll show you where." Asuka offered him.

Minato smiled slightly. "Thanks. I'm looking forward to it."

 ** _*CRACK*_**

 ** _Thou art I... And I am thou..._**

 ** _Thou has tempered your bond..._**

 ** _Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chooses_**

 ** _To create a Persona of the Fool Arcana..._**

 _'Huh, looks like my Social Link already leveled up.'_ Minato thought as time briefly stopped before returning to normal again.

"I suppose that means we'll see you tomorrow then Minato-san." Ikaruga said as she put her cup down and got up from her seat.

"It's already that time, huh?" Minato asked as he glanced at the clock. Sure enough, it was already almost seven. "I guess I'll meet you guys tomorrow."

Asuka nodded. "Yep! Oh, and when you meet us at the school, use the back entrance. That's how we're able to get in without being seen."

"Use the back entrance. Got it."

After they said their goodbyes, the girls left and Minato got to work cleaning the dishes before getting ready to turn in for the night.

However, as he got into bed, something in his gut told him that starting tomorrow, things were going to be quite eventful.

* * *

The following afternoon, Minato walked towards Hanzō Academy to meet up with his shinobi friends. Since it was surprisingly cold outside, he made sure to dress in a brown jacket and some jeans to keep himself warm. Along the way, he couldn't stop thinking about how today might be slightly different than the other days he spent with the Hanzō Group so far. Plus, it almost felt like someone was watching him every now and then, which made him feel slightly on edge, but he tried to brush it off as him just being stress.

Once he made it to the school, he walked around the perimeter towards the back entrance like Asuka had told him, and sure enough, he saw the old school building nearby, quite a distance away from the rest of the school. He always wondered why they never tore this place down or tried to rebuild it, but it appeared the reason was that the Hanzō Shinobi were using it as a hideout.

Making sure no one was watching him, Minato walked through the main entrance and saw Asuka standing there waiting for him. She noticed him approach and smiled brightly.

"Hey Minato-kun! You decided to show up!"

"I said I was, didn't I?" he replied. He looked around and noticed that it was just the two of them. "Where are the others?"

"Their waiting downstairs. C'mon, lets go see them!" Asuka said as she grabbed his hand and began to drag him off down one of the empty halls.

 _'Downstairs? Is there a basement or something here? Or is their hideout actually beneath the building?'_ The more he thought about that, the more likely the latter option was the correct choice. Why would she even try to bring him to the basement anyway if the Ninja Room wasn't even there?

 _ **"Probably so she can tie you up to chair and then have her and her friends have their way with-"**_

 _'Satan, you make one more perverted joke, and I'll give Helel and Lucifer permission to spam Morning Star and Megidolaon on you.'_

 _ **"It's true. We will if he gives us the order."**_ Helel spoke up, with Lucifer apparently nodding in agreement.

 _ **"I-It was just a joke! It was a joke! Jeez, take a chill pile, would you?!"**_ Satan said in a slightly panicked tone.

Rolling his eyes at the Judgement Persona's excuse, he allowed Asuka to lead him down a flight of stairs and down a long hallway until they reached a blank wall which automatically slid open and revealed a normal looking tea room.

"Are we here for tea or something?" Minato asked.

Asuka giggled slightly at the boy's reaction. "No, the entrance to the Ninja Room's over here." She then led him over to the wall on the opposite side of the small room. "Now just put your back against the wall."

Minato was slightly confused by her request, but nodded and did as she asked. The two stood with their backs against the wall when the whole wall suddenly spun and before he realized it, they were in a completely different room now.

"...That's actually pretty awesome." Minato said. "That's like some spy stuff."

"I know, right? I thought the same thing." Asuka said. The sound of footsteps caught their attention and the two turned to see the rest of the Hanzō Group approaching.

"It's good to see you made it, Minato-san." Ikaruga said as she and the others stopped in front of him. "I trust you didn't have any trouble getting here."

"Not at all. It was all thanks to Asuka-san that I didn't get lost up in that building." Minato replied truthfully, which he noticed earned a blush from the brunette. "Hm? Are you alright Asuka-san? Your face is red."

Hibari tilted her head in a cute manner. "Are you feeling sick, Asuka-chan?"

Asuka quickly shook her head. "N-No! I'm perfectly fine, just suddenly felt a little warm for a second."

"Then lets go. Kiriya-sensei should be here soon for our training." Yagyū said, earning several nods from her fellow shinobi.

Minato followed the group into the Ninja Room, seeing that everything looked pretty much the same as he remembered from before except for one thing.

"Was that lunch bar always there?" he asked as he pointed towards it.

The others turned towards him before looking to where he was pointing and they too noticed the large wooden looks bar sitting close to the side of the room.

"Where'd that come from?" Katsuragi inquired.

"It looks like the kind from a sushi restaurant." Hibari commented, earning a nod from Yagyū.

"Looks like it."

While the others were wondering how or why this lunch counter was here, Asuka stared at it with a look of realization. "Huh? It couldn't be..."

"Hehehe. You're finally here." A small laugh was suddenly heard from behind the lunch counter, prompting the girls to enter fighting stances. Asuka on the other hand, took a step forward with a look of shock.

"That voice!"

At that moment, an elderly man with long grey hair tied in a ponytail, a large mustache and a short beard suddenly popped up from behind the counter dressed in dark colored shinobi robes and a bright smile on his face.

"Tada~!" he cheered.

Asuka's eyes lit up and she gave a big smile. "Jii-chan!"

"Jii-chan?!" Everyone else blinked in surprise and confusion as they all gave the same response at the same time.

Asuka rushed up to the old man as he stepped out from behind the counter and hugged him while starting to cry, while the old man embraced her. "Come on, Asuka. We just saw each other not that long ago, didn't we?"

Minato watched the sight with a neutral expression, but he was inwardly surprised. _'So this is Asuka-san's grandfather?'_

Ikaruga took a step forward, complete shock written on her face. "Asuka-san... Is this gentleman...by any chance...?"

The old man looked up at the others, ending his hug with Asuka as he dipped his head. "Thank you for looking after my granddaughter."

"Hanzō-sama!" The raven-haired girls eyes widened with realization. She then quickly got to her knees and bowed to him in a dogeza position.

Katsuragi pointed at Hanzō with a shaking finger and a look of shock. "Th-the legendary shinobi?!"

"Eh?" Hibari inquired with a look of confusion.

Asuka smiled as she then let go of Hanzō and gestured to her friends. "Jii-chan, these are my friends I told you about. Guys, this is my Jii-chan, Hanzō."

The legendary shinobi smile as he dipped his head again. "It's nice to finally meet you all in person. Asuka has told me a lot about all of you." He then noticed Minato out of the corner of his eye, standing away from the group. "Hm? Asuka, who's this?"

The brunette realized that she failed to introduce the bluenette and walked up beside him. "Jii-chan, this is Minato-kun, our new friend. Kiriya-sensei gave him permission to hang out with us. He's super strong too!"

Hanzō stared at the boy with a look that made Minato feel like he was staring right through him; it made him feel slightly unnerved. Then, the old man gave a sudden look of realization.

"Ah, you must be Arisato Minato-kun! It would seem Kiriya's letter was spot on about you."

Minato was surprised by that. "Kiriya-sensei told you about me?"

Hanzō nodded. "Indeed. You must be the one who possesses the power to summon creatures to fight alongside you, yes? At first I thought Kiriya was exaggerating when his letter described how you summoned the Shinto God Susano-o in your duel with my granddaughter and her friends, but now that I'm seeing you here in person, I can see what he meant."

The boy would've been lying if he said he wasn't humbled by the old man's words. He then dipped his head and gave a polite bow. "Thank you for your words of kindness, Hanzō-sama."

To his surprise, Hanzō gave a hearty laugh and waved his hand. "Now, now. You're not a shinobi, so there's no need to be so formal with me. You can just call me Hanzō."

Minato took it with stride and nodded. "Thank you, Hanzō-san."

The old man just chuckled in response before he then gestured to the lunch bar. "Well, I figured I could treat you all to some lunch. That is if you're hungry."

"Hooray! Sushi! Sushi!" Hibari cheered as she and the others sat down in the chairs set up on one side while Hanzō began to prepare their food.

After some time, Hanzō finished making his signature futomaki rolls and passed them around to the group. As the rest of the Hanzō shinobi began to dig into the rolls, Asuka and her grandfather chose to sit a short distance away for some privacy, with Minato standing close by.

The boy stared at the roll sitting on his plate for a short while before glancing at the other girls as they all ate. For some strange reason, the way they all ate their rolls and the blissful moans that they gave out made the whole scene a little bit too... _erotic_ than what it should have been. It was slowly making Minato lose his appetite, but just to make sure he didn't come off as rude to the legendary shinobi, he started eating his roll while listening in on Asuka's conversation with Hanzō.

"I hear your summoning isn't going well."

The brunette nodded with a frown. "I'm sorry, Jii-chan. I'm afraid that the way things are going, I'll bring shame on your name."

"That doesn't really matter to me." Hanzō replied with a smile before his expression became thoughtful. "Still, that's how it turned out after all, has it? Sometimes, one's family line has a bearing on one's Secret Animal."

"Family line?" Asuka repeated.

Hanzō nodded. "The trend is particularly strong in families like ours, where there are more than one generation of practicing shinobi."

"Then what did you summon, Jii-chan?"

"It's something rather traditional for a shinobi." he replied, making Asuka sit up.

"Rather traditional? What is it that our family line has summoned?"

Suddenly, Hanzō's expression became rather stern and serious. "Well, you see..."

Minato was beginning to tune out the conversation as he continued to eat his futomaki roll until he was caught off guard by the sound of Asuka scream out one word.

"T-TOADS?!" she cried out before her body started to tremble in fear with tears stinging the corners of her eyes. "With their legs...and webbed feet..."

"Are you okay Asuka-san?" Minato asked with slight concern. _'Why did she suddenly freak out over toads? Don't tell me that she's...'_

Hanzō sighed with a bead of sweat dropping down his face. "Perhaps I should have gotten you more accustomed to them when you were little. I never expected to raise a girl who was scared of frogs."

"Jii-chan~! Don't say that in front of Minato-kun!" Asuka yelled again with embarrassment.

"You're scared of frogs, Asuka-san?" Minato asked. He never took the brunette to be the type of person who was scared of something so small and harmless.

"Oh, you should've seen her yesterday after we left your house, Minato!" Katsuragi called from the bar. "A tiny little tree frog fell down her shirt and she just started freaking out, it was priceless!"

Asuka's face turned bright red with a look of pure embarrassment on her face. "S-Stop it Katsu-nee~! Don't tell Minato-kun that! It's too embarrassing!"

"Asuka." Hanzō said with another stern expression, getting the girls attention. "You cannot let your fear affect your performance as a shinobi. This is a shinobi trial!"

The girl sighed in defeat and her face dropped. "I'll do my best..."

Hanzō nodded in approval before he realized something. "Oh, by the way, were is Kiriya-"

 **POOF!**

Suddenly, a large blast of smoke erupted from in between the two, sending them on their backs as Kiriya appeared from the epicenter of the sudden smoke and bowed.

"Long time no see, Hanzō-sama."

Hanzō coughed in response as he waved his hand in front of his face to get the smoke out. "*cough cough* You're the same as ever, huh?"

* * *

Some time later, in the woods outside of the Asakusa Kannon Temple, the Hanzō girls were rummaging through the bushes as they searched for something.

"We just can't seem to find one, huh?" Katsuragi said as he scanned the bushes.

Ikaruga peaked through the crevices of some rocks before looking around. "Lets look over by the pond a little more."

"Froggy-san!" Hibari called out while leaning over some rocks while Yagyū prodded through some bushes with her umbrella.

"Um, guys, this concerns me, and I can't let it bother the rest of you too." Asuka said as watched from nearby.

"The shortest path to summoning is to be close to the subject." Yagyū replied as she turned to face her, revealing a large fried squid in her mouth. "Kind of like this."

Asuka jumped in shock. "P-Put a frog in my mouth?! I don't care if I can't ever summon in my whole life! I'm giving up."

Yagyū raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you fighting against? I was speaking figuratively."

"She's right." Ikaruga said as she appeared from behind a rock. "Asuka, we're all here looking for frogs so that you can become more accustomed to them, aren't we? Stick with it."

Realizing that her friends weren't going to be going anywhere, Asuka resigned to her fate and nodded with a forced smile. "You're right, Ikaruga. Out of respect for all of your feelings, I'll keep trying."

Watching from a nearby bridge, Minato, Hanzō and Kiriya observed the girls as they scoured the area for frogs. Kiriya turned towards the blunette. "You know Arisato-kun, there was no need for you to have to join us. No one is forcing you to help us with Asuka's awakening."

The boy responded with a shrug. "Well, since there's really nothing for me to do today, I figured I could at least help Asuka-san get over her fear." She looked over to where said brunette was nervously peaking through bushes with a look like she was expecting a monster to pop up at any moment. "Still though, to think that Asuka's Secret Animal would actually be an animal that she's scared of."

Kiriya couldn't help but nod in agreement. "Indeed. It's no wonder her summoning never went well, no matter how much she tried."

"If only I had gotten her used to being around frogs when she was a child, then perhaps she wouldn't be having this problem." Hanzō said to himself. "But I suppose there's no time like the present to help her master her fear and master her summon."

Ikaruga moved a few small rocks out of the way near the edge of the pond and sighed in disappointment when she found nothing. "There aren't any here either. It might be difficult to find any without going to a rice paddy."

At that moment, Hanzō made a slight motion with his hands and the sounds of croaking frogs could suddenly be heard from all around.

"I hear frogs!" Hibari exclaimed.

Asuka looked around and her face twisted in horror when she noticed a large group of tree frogs appear from the bushes and begin to surround her, all of them staring at her while croaking louder and louder as they got closer.

"KYYAAAAAAAAAAA~!"

Hanzō smiled casually as he brought out a fan and started fanning himself. "It's fair for me to help out this much, right? I came all this way to see how she was doing, after all." He said as he chucked to himself.

Kiriya gave a light smirk back at him. "Is seeing how she's doing the only reason you came to the school?"

"There is actually." Hanzō said before turning towards Minato. "Minato-kun, could you please go help them? I think Asuka's friends may need some extra help with her. Also, me and Kiriya need to discuss something private."

"Understood." the boy replied with a nod as he walked over towards the sounds of croaking and screaming. He knew that since he wasn't an official member of their group, it wasn't his place to stick his nose into private shinobi matters like this, and he respected that.

Once Minato was out of ear shot, Hanzō turned towards Kiriya. "I heard they were attacked by puppets."

Kiriya looked towards him with slight surprise. "Oh, so you heard about that after all."

Hanzō looked towards him with a serious expression. "You must have realized as well, just what this means."

Kiriya's expression became just as serious as Hanzō closed his fan as he looked off to the side.

"They have already gone into motion."

* * *

 **Meanwhile:**

In a dark, Japanese-styled room that was lit by several torches, a figure in dark samurai armor and a bronze oni mask stood before five girls who sat before her while bowing.

"I see you've made contact. How good were they?" the figure asked in a female voice.

"Yes. The girl named Asuka, who's a descendant of the legendary shinobi..." Homura replied as she sat up with a smirk. "I checked her out with my own eyes, but she wasn't anything special."

"Same with the other girls." Another girl added. It was the same one who observed the Hanzō Girls before, though she was dressed in what almost pink and white lingerie with white cups and a diamond shaped opening that revealed her cleavage. She wore white garments on her arms and legs as well as white bottoms with simple pink high-heels. She also wore a large lab coat on her back over her shoulders, almost like a cape.

"Dealing with my cute little dolls was hard enough for them." the girl continued with a smirk of her own.

"I take it they won't be a problem?"

The girl nodded. "Not a bit."

"Don't take them lightly after making contact just once. Letting your guard down invites death. That's one of our core tenets." The figure's gaze became hard behind her mask. "And if what Haruka witnessed is true, then it would seem that Hanzō now has someone who's abilities could make him more dangerous then even a shinobi. You are to be on your highest guard should you encounter that boy."

Homera and the others dipped their heads. "Understood."

"It's inevitable that those girls at Hanzō along with the boy will become obstacles on our path someday." the figure continued. "However, we must not be hasty. We'll be thorough in their elimination, as is becoming of dignified shinobi."

The figure then turned to one of the girls among the group. "Yomi. It's your turn today."

Yomi looked up at her sensei with a smile. She was a young girl of about 16 years of age, with long platinum blonde hair with a small green clip in it. Her outfit was somewhat reminiscent of a maid, consisting of a teal green dress with a white slip underneath. The top of her dress went up to her bustline and she had a single white collar wrapped around her neck. On her arms, she had long white gloves and green diamond shaped arm sleeves with white frills underneath. Around her waist was a small white apron with a shuriken pattern on it, and a belt that holds a brown bag and a strip of darts. She wore a teal beret with a large white bow on the back of it and an even larger bow on the back of her dress. Under her dress is a pair of white stockings covered by long brown boots with black bows at the top.

"Understood." Yomi said as she gave a small laugh.

* * *

 **Back at** **Hanzō Academy:**

In the Ninja Room of Hanzō Academy, Asuka and the rest of her friends aside from Ikaruga and Minato stood in their bathing suits as they gathered around two small inflatable kids pool filled with water and around two dozen frogs in each. Asuka's foot was dangling over one of the pools as if she were trying to step in, but the look on her face made it clear that that would be a difficult task for her.

"Hang in their, Asuka-chan." Hibari said with encouragement, though it didn't seem to do much to calm Asuka.

"What am I supposed to hang where?" she replied as she shook like a leaf at the sight of the frogs floating around in the water.

"You'll be fine." Katsuragi spoke up from behind her. "The frogs aren't gonna bite you after all."

"This isn't funny!" Asuka exclaimed as she attempted to bring her foot closer to the water. But before her toes could even touch the surface, one of the large brown toads that had been swimming nearby suddenly jumped up and landed on her foot. Asuka's body instantly locked up and her face quickly twisted into and expression of horror and disgust.

Yagyū, who was sitting in the other pool while eating another squid, glanced over her shoulder to see Asuka's expression. "Like a frog that's been cornered by a snake, huh?"

Hibari looked over her shoulder towards Minato, who had his headphones placed over his ears as he listened to some tunes from his mp3 player. "Hey, Minato-chan, maybe you could help Asuka-chan, could you?"

Katsuragi nodded. "Yeah, maybe use one of your Persona things to help her out." She then gave a mischievous smirk. "Maybe you could use one that looks like frog to help her out~"

"Stop it, Katsu-nee! Don't tease me like that! And don't dare listen to her, Minato-kun!" Asuka screamed out.

Minato shrugged his shoulders with a neutral expression. "Unfortunately, while that does sound tempting, I actually don't have any Persona's that even come close to resembling frogs." His lips then curled into a faint smirk. "And besides, seeing Asuka-san being this freaked out over frogs is actually pretty entertaining."

"You're so mean, Minato-kun! I can't believe you think this is-Wah!" Asuka was so busy yelling at the boy that she didn't realize that her foot stepped into the pool at an awkward angle that caused her to fall face first into the pool with a splash that sent several frogs flying out of the pool in the process.

One of the toads ended up landing near Ikaruga and suddenly crawled up into her skirt, causing her to scream out in terror.

"WAAAHHHH!"

Katsuragi turned to see her teammate on her back and flailing about on the floor. "Oh, Ikaruga, are you showing an example for Asuka?"

"N-No, that's not it!" she exclaimed before the toad crawled out of her shirt and landed on her face, causing her to scream again.

"Look, Asuka-chan. Just enjoy yourself the way Ikaruga-san is doing." Hibari advised.

"Is she enjoying that?" Asuka asked with an unsure expression.

"It doesn't look like it." Yagyū replied.

At some point, the frog landed on Ikaruga's back as she stood on her hands and knees while trying not move. "P-Please get it off! Please get it off! Please get it off!"

Minato sighed as he gently plucked the toad off of the raven-haired girl before unpausing his music to drown out the noise.

* * *

In a separate room away from all of the drama, Kiriya sat across from Hanzō with a look of shock. "Hebijo Academy? You mean..."

Hanzō nodded. "Yes. It is revealed at last. Their Evil Shinobi training organization."

Kiriya's expression became serious. "Then this really is the work of Evil Shinobi."

"Although they are still in training, these girls are still shinobi." Hanzō continued. "Now that the other side has made it's move, we must be prepared to stake our lives. Their purposes are still unknown, but we must fend off the sparks that will be falling our way."

Kiriya nodded in understanding. "Right."

"Also," Hanzō added, "make sure that you keep a close eye on Minato-kun as well. If he really did use his power to defeat those puppets that attacked Asuka's friends, then it's likely that they may know about his abilities. We still don't know much about it ourselves, but for all we know, they may attempt to forcefully take his powers or even try and turn him into a weapon against us. We must guarantee that he isn't harmed by them in any way."

"Understood, I'll make sure he's kept under close watch." Kiriya replied. He then closed his eyes as the vague image of a young girl with long hair appeared in his mind, smiling at him brightly.

* * *

 **The Asakusa Market:**

Minato looked at Ikaruga with confusion. "You want to throw a welcome party for Hanzō-san?"

The girl nodded as she scanned the vegetable stands. "Yes. Hanzō-sama is someone they call a legendary shinobi. We must show him some heartfelt hospitality."

"You must really respect him if you're willing to go that far for him." Minato said. "But still, Asuka-san said that you don't have to be so considerate. Besides, he does seem like a pretty laid back person."

"You may be right, but still, it's the proper thing to do." Ikaruga said before she faced the boy with a smile. "By the way, thank you for accompanying me. I hope that I'm not troubling you by having you come along."

Minato only shook his head. "There's no problem, Ikaruga-senpai. Besides, you did seem like you needed a break after that little...incident."

The raven-haired girl gave a rather embarrassed smile as she nodded sheepishly. "Y-Yes, of course. Thank you again for helping me, Minato-san."

"Anytime."

"These bean sprouts are so expensive."

Minato turned around towards the source of the voice and noticed a young girl next to them scanning the bean sprouts. She appeared to be around his age with long platinum blonde hair like Margaret, bright green eyes, and a very strange green outfit with a green beret on her head. Even he had to admit that she indeed looked quite attractive.

The girl turned to face the boy with a smile. "Don't you think?"

"I suppose." Minato replied with a stoic expression. He was beginning to realize that something about her felt off. In a way, she reminded him of the Hanzō Shinobi, but the feeling she gave off was putting him on edge, but he couldn't quite understand why.

His thought was cut short when he felt Ikaruga grab him by his arm and pull him away towards the opposite direction, much to his surprise. "Ikaruga-senpai?"

"We cannot come into contact with outsiders. Those were orders given to us by Kiriya-sensei-"

 _THUNK!_

Ikaruga's eyes widened when something zipped past her head and grazed her hair before embedding itself into a sign, revealing it to be an arrow. The two turned around to see the same blonde girl holding her arm out towards them with a wrist-mounted crossbow attached to it.

"Bean sprouts are the food of commoners. You wouldn't be interested in them, would you?" the girl said with a dark smile. "This is the reason I hate being raised as 'proper ladies'."

Minato and Ikaruga glared ahead at the girl as she pointed her weapon at them, though Minato couldn't help but curse himself.

 _'Sometimes I hate it when your right, Cybele.'_

 ** _"Told you so~"_**

 _'Shut up.'_

* * *

 **(Ending Theme: Beauty of Destiny -P4G Special Mix ver.-)**

 **And cut! Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger, but this chapter was getting too long, so I had to end it eventually. But still, I hoped you guys liked it! I'll be busy with college for a while now, so expect new chapters to not appear very frequently. I'm going to be spending my free time working on my _Persona: Infinity War_ story and getting that up and running, so watch out for then that gets up. Please don't forget to favorite, follow and comment to let me know what you thought and I'll see you guys later!**

 **This is Godzilla Boy Signing off!**

* * *

 **Next Time: Midnight Intruder**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3 or Senran Kagura!**

 **Hey guys, I hope you all enjoyed your 2019 and felling ready for 2020! First off, thanks to everyone who waited patiently for this chapter, I've been super busy with college as of lately and I thought I could get this chapter out sooner during my Summer break, but unfortunately that wasn't the case, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'll eventually be done with college very soon and will be moving on to a four-year college next Fall, so we'll see how much I can get out in the time between then. Before we get started though, I wanna take this time to give a shout out to my buddies Omnifiction and Recentreader325 for helping me out in developing this story.** **This goes out to you two! Well, anyway, lets not waste time and jump straight into the chapter!**

 **(Opening Theme: Burn My Dread - Spring of Birth ver.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - Moonlight Intruder**

Minato and Ikaruga remained on guard as they stared ahead at the blonde, who continued to point her wrist-mounted crossbow at them. She gave the two a rather dark smile, which further heightened Minato's weariness. He knew that something about her felt off, now he knew it was because she was a threat.

"I am quite upset with you." the girl spoke. "I won't complain about luxury vegetables eaten by the wealthy rising in price. But now even cheap goods like bean sprouts, the poor man's staple food, have gotten more expensive. How could this have happened?"

"I'm not quite sure how to answer that, especially when your pointing that thing at us." Minato replied. Although he had a calm expression, he was keeping himself guarded. Seeing the crossbow mounted on her wrist pointed right at him and Ikaruga, he quickly switched to Abaddon, who had Null Pierce on him in the event she actually did decide to fire that thing again.

Suddenly, Ikaruga grabbed the arrow that was embedded in the sign and yanked it out before threw it towards the girl. She remained unfazed, even as it zipped past her head and embedded itself into the bean sprout sign.

The girl moved her aim towards Ikaruga. "You...are the one I was asking."

However, the raven-haired Shinobi simply turned and grabbed Minato by the wrist again as she began to walk away with him. Again, he was slightly surprised by the sudden action, as well as the blonde. "Ikaruga-senpai, what are you doing?"

"Contact with outsiders is forbidden." was all she said in response.

"You do realize I'm an outsider too, right?" he lightly retorted.

"I see. You really intend to continue ignoring me." The blonde said as her smile slowly returned. She then lowered her crossbow as she swiped her other arm into the air. **"Shinobi Kekkai!"**

Suddenly, the entire shopping district vanished and everything became pitch black, with thousands of strands of glowing green grass being the only source of light as they drifted through the air by a nonexistent breeze. Minato looked around with surprise. Although the scenery was different, this phenomenon felt similar to what happened before he fought those puppets. He turned back towards the girl, his eyes narrowed.

 _'There's no mistaking it, she must be a Shinobi as well. But just who is she?'_

"What is your objective?" Ikaruga demanded.

The girl smiled as she pointed her crossbow at them again. "If I had to bring it to the point, it's because you're a spoiled little Ojo-sama from a family of rich industrialists."

Ikaruga's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

"I bet your parents showered you with love all your life." she replied as her smile became almost sinister. "A carefree, comfortable life with your loving family, getting all you want."

Minato wasn't liking where this was going. He could tell that whoever this girl was, she was targeting Ikaruga for some reason. He slowly began to reach into his pants pocket to draw his Evoker, only to be stopped when the raven-haired girl brought her hand up to stop him.

"Minato-san, please stay back." she spoke in a calm, neutral tone.

The boy looked at her. "You know you can't do this alone Senpai. Let me help."

"I appreciate your concern, however..." Ikaruga glared ahead at the blonde. "It appears that it's me she's after. I can't afford to have you get hurt under my watch. Please leave this to me."

The opposing girl's crossbow disappeared, and in her hand appeared a giant zweihander that was easily about as long as she was tall. In all honesty, Minato couldn't believe that a girl her size could carry that thing so easily.

 **"Shinobi Tenshin!"** Ikaruga made a sign with her hands as her school uniform disappeared and she was now dressed in her Shinobi outfit, he katana, Hien, also appearing in her hand. "When faced with danger, one must overcome it!" She unsheathed her sword and held it close as she faced the girl. "I'll shall not abide you!"

The two stared each other down with their weapons in hand before the blonde brought her sword back. She then swung her weapon and sent a crescent wave of purple light towards Ikaruga, who brought up her katana in the hopes of blocking it. While she was successful in blocking it, the impact released a sharp wind that striped away parts of her jacket and made a few tears in her tights as well as forced her down to one knee.

The wind kicked up a large amount of grass that blew in Ikaruga's face, but once it died down, she looked up to see her assailant above her with her giant sword raised over her head. She swung the blade down at her head, but Ikaruga managed to bring up her katana just in time to block it. After a brief struggle, the blonde jumped back and actually looked to be hovering in the air in front of the Hanzō Shinobi.

"What power!" Ikaruga said to herself in astonishment.

"You cannot harm me with such a ladylike counterattack." The assailant brought her weapon back before thrusting the tip downwards at the raven-haired girl, who was unable to bring her weapon up to defend in time as the attack seemingly struck her and impacted the ground. The blonde looked down to see the result of her finishing blow, only to find that Ikaruga wasn't there. She then felt a presence from right above her and quickly looked up to see Ikaruga diving down towards her.

"Prepare yourself!" she yelled as she raised her sword over her head and prepared to swing it down at her.

However, the assailant smirked as she made her zweihander disappear and a wrist-mounted cannon suddenly appeared on her right arm.

 **"Secret Ninja Art: Niflheim!"** The girl fired an explosive blast from her cannon as it rocketed towards Ikaruga.

The Hanzō Shinobi's eyes widened as she saw the attack come closer, knowing that she was completely unable to dodge in time in her current position.

"CADENZA!"

Suddenly, a shout filled the air and a noise akin to a gun shot rang out as Ikaruga's body was suddenly bathed in a warm green glow. As the green light surrounds her, she felt the slight pain from the assailants last attack ebb away, but at the same time, her body suddenly felt surprisingly lighter that before. Using it to her advantage, she managed to dive to the right and landed back on the ground as the assailants attack continued its course, seemingly blasting off into the black unknown of the Kekkai barrier.

The blonde's eyes widened in shock. There was no way she could have missed! How could the Hanzō Shinobi be able to have dodged her Secret Ninja Art at the last second?! She turned and noticed the blue-haired boy from before standing off to the side with a gun to his head, but what she noticed were two large humanoids floating behind him side-by-side.

Ikaruga noticed this as well and was surprised to see both Orpheus and the other Persona she remembered as Apsaras briefly hovering behind Minato before both vanished at once.

"M-Minato-san?" she managed to let out as the boy walked up to her.

"What was that about not wanting me to get hurt on your watch?" Minato asked casually as he stopped beside her and stared ahead at the assailant with a neutral expression. "You should already know that I can handle myself just fine, Ikaruga-senpai. Please at least let me assist you."

Before she could even answer however, Minato turned back around as the assailant charged in again while swinging her giant sword. The blue-haired boy immediately switched to Siegfried as he brought his free hand up and summoned his one-handed sword in a brief flash of light, successfully blocking the attack thanks to Siegfried's immunity to slash attacks as well as his resistance to strike attacks.

The assailants eyes widened as she looked at the boys weapon and then at the boy himself. "You...summoned a weapon? Does that mean your a Shinobi as well?"

"Unfortunately, no I'm not." Minato replied as he continued to struggle against the blonde's sword. "It's just my own natural abilities."

He could understand why she would mistake him for a Shinobi if he could summon weapons out of thin air, seeing as Asuka and the others were able to do the same thing. After his duel with the Hanzō Girls, Minato had did a little experimenting on what he could do with what limited power he still had from the Universe Arcana. Surprisingly, he found that he could make his sword disappear and reappear at will, much like what his Shinobi acquaintances could do, though he was a little curious about where his sword actually went when he made it disappear. However, he eventually had given up on trying to find out after asking his Persona's and getting some very unhelpful responses.

Oh well, he would probably have time to find out eventually.

The girl scoffed at his vague response. "Hmph! We'll see about that." She finally broke the stalemate as she jumped back to gain some distance between them. She then swung her weapon and sent another purple energy wave like the one she used on Ikaruga earlier, but Minato responded by raising his Evoker and pointing it at his temple again.

"Sarasvati!" He pulled the trigger and the sound of shattering glass rang out as a female figure wearing a gold headpiece and carrying a Japanese shamisen in her hands appeared in front of the boy. "Bufula!"

The Persona strummed the strings of her shamisen as a wall of ice appeared in the path of the oncoming attack, causing a collision as the wave dispersed and the ice shattered. The assailant looked to be stunned in silence as Sarasvati disappeared, but seemed to regain her composure and gave a smirk at Minato.

"Hmm, it seems like Haruka-san was right about you." she said with a slight giggle. "You really do possess a very intriguing power. This may actually get somewhat interesting."

Minato's eyes narrowed again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I was told to be weary of you, but I might just end up going all out." The girl rushed forward again as she swung her zweihander at him, but Minato responded by bringing up his Evoker again and pulling the trigger.

"Okuninushi!"

Upon his command, the Persona of the Temperance Arcana manifested in front of him and unsheathed his sword from his back, countering the assailants blade with his own. After another brief stalemate, Minato made another command. "Mighty Swing!"

Okuninushi responded by giving a powerful swing of his sword and forcing the girl to jump back to avoid the blade from slicing into her. The blonde back flipped before landing gracefully on her feet a good distance away from the Persona-user. The assailant gave a knowing smirk as her sword disappeared and she summoned her wrist mounted cannon once again.

 **"Secret Ninja Art: Niflheim!"**

"Rangda!" Minato fired his Evoker again as a multi-colored female figure with long spiky black hair and long finger nails appeared in Okuninushi's place with a wicked smile. "Agidyne!"

The assailant fired another fiery blast from her wrist-mounted cannon while Rangda sent out a large blast of orange flames, with the two attacks meeting in the middle and resulting in a massive explosion. Minato covered up as smoke blew into his face, but managed to look up in time to see the girl charge through the smoke with her zweihander back in her hand as she swung it at him again.

Minato quickly dispelled Rangda and switched back to Siegfried as he jump back just the massive sword struck the ground where he had been standing, kicking up more grass. The boy cast a quick Power Charge as the girl lunged at him again, this time countering with his sword. As soon as the two weapons struck each other, Minato's sword overpowered the assailant's and she was sent skidded back on her feet.

"My, to think that the Good Shinobi would get their hands on someone so powerful." the girl said as she smirked again. "How interesting."

Ikaruga got up and came to Minato's side with Hien in her grasp. "If that's what you call us, then you must be an Evil Shinobi. Answer me this, why are you after us?"

"Your condescending attitude really annoys me." the girl replied with a sneer before her expression quickly changed into a dark smile. "Anyway, I only wanted to test your skills today." She then turned back towards Minato. "The names Yomi, by the way. Don't you dare forget it."

"Minato Arisato." the boy replied with a stoic glare. "Right back at you."

Yomi merely smirked as she turned and started to walk away before addressing Ikaruga with her back turned. "Feel free to savor your expensive food and enjoy the time you have left."

She soon vanished into thin air as the kekkai barrier lifted, the two Hanzō students once again finding themselves in the shopping district. Ikaruga's clothes eventually returned to normal and her sword disappeared as Minato turned to her.

"You alright, senpai?" he asked with concern.

The raven-haired girl nodded. "I'm alright. Thank you for the assist, Minato-san."

"I'm sure you would've done the same thing, senpai." Minato replied before his expression became somewhat serious. "But more importantly, what was that just now? Why did that girl attack us?"

"I wish I knew as well, Minato-san."she answered while shaking her head.

The blue-haired teen turned to where the assailant, Yomi, had disappeared to with a slight glare.

 _'What could she have been after?'_

* * *

After that whole fiasco, Minato and Ikaruga tried to go on like nothing had happened and finished gathering all the supplies for Hanzō's welcome party before they started to head back to the school.

"We bought a lot of ingredients for Hanzō-sama's welcome party," Ikaruga commented, "but fortunately we managed to stay within our budget."

"Yeah." Minato answered absent-minded. He couldn't help but keep thinking back to what Yomi had said, about Ikaruga's family being "rich industrialists". Just what did she mean by that?

Ikaruga pumped her fist slightly with a smile on her face. "Now we just need to cook our tastiest dishes."

Minato nodded with a distant expression. "I see..."

The black-haired shinobi looked at him with concern. "Minato-san? Is something wrong?"

"No it's nothing. Just thinking is all." the boy replied while shaking his head.

Ikaruga wasn't fooled in the slightest, but already seemed to have an idea as to what was on his mind. "...You're wondering about what that girl said about my family, correct?"

Minato was slightly surprised that she knew what he was thinking about, but nodded in response. "What did she mean by that?"

"..." Ikaruga seemed hesitant about it, but then said, "Are you aware of the Houou Conglomerate?"

That struck the boy as odd as to why she was answering his question with another question, but he answered nonetheless. "I've heard of them from time to time. Apparently their a really successful company run by a wealthy family and-"

He stopped himself from finishing however, when the realization quickly dawned on him. "Wait, does that mean that you're...?"

Ikaruga nodded. "Yes, I am the daughter of the Houou Family."

Minato was quiet surprised by the revelation. He hadn't expected that Ikaruga was a heiress to a famous company like Mitsuru. Maybe that's why he saw something in her that was somewhat similar to his red-haired senpai.

"I..had no idea." he finally said, unsure of what else he really could say.

"I'm sure you're very surprised by all of this." the raven-haired girl said without looking at him. "Does it change your view of me at all?"

The boy shook his head. "If your worried that my opinion of you is negative like that girl, then don't."

Ikaruga finally turned to him with a look of surprise as he continued. "Just because you're rich doesn't automatically make me think you're spoiled or anything like that. I had a friend once who also came from a rich family like you. One time, her grandfather, the previous head of a famous cooperation, did something incredibly terrible, but her and her father worked hard to correct his mistake and make the world a safer place."

The class rep was somewhat speechless from what she had heard, but she eventually regained her composure and gave a small smile. "I see... Your friend sounds like a very remarkable woman."

"She really is." Minato answered with a faint bitter smile upon remembering Mitsuru.

Even though the Kirijo Group was an incredibly powerful and wealthy cooperate group, Mitsuru and her father never came off as a spoiled rich family and were simply focused on defeating the Shadows so that humanity wouldn't have to keep on suffering for a mistake the late Kouetsu Kirijo had made.

"Oh!" Ikaruga suddenly said. "We should hurry! Hanzō-sama and the others are probably waiting for us!"

Minato nodded as the two began to sprint back to the school, not wanting to keep their friends waiting any longer.

* * *

 **Hanzō Academy, later that evening:**

"Mmm~! Delicious!" Katsuragi exclaimed as she stuffed her face full of food.

"Ikaruga-san, Minato-chan! This is really good!" Hibari added with a happy expression on her face while Yagyū silently ate beside her.

After Minato and Ikaruga had returned to Hanzō Academy, the Shinobi students were seated at the table in the middle of Ninja Room, enjoying the wide assortment of food the two had prepared. Meanwhile, Minato and Hanzō sat nearby and silently enjoyed some tea that the blue-haired boy had served. Kiriya was nowhere to be seen, apparently saying he had something to take care of before he could join them.

After returning to Hanzō Academy, Ikaruga reported her and Minato's encounter with Yomi in the Shopping District. While Ikaruga profusely apologized for disobeying Kiriya's orders and asking to be punished for doing so, the auburn-eyed teacher told her not to worry over it since Minato had informed him that she wasn't at fault and that it was Yomi who was the one who instigated the confrontation. Once that matter was settled, Ikaruga apologized to the blue-haired boy for getting him involved, but Minato told her that it was perfectly fine and that he was always willing to help out before they returned to the Ninja Room to join the rest of the Hanzō Shinobi.

Minato looked out towards the table after taking a sip of his tea and saw how much fun the five girls seemed to be having, all of them smiling, laughing and just relishing in each others company. Seeing them like this reminded Minato of all of the peaceful moments he shared with his friends at S.E.E.S, making him give an almost sad smile at those memories.

"Everything alright, Minato-kun?" Hanzō asked, snapping the boy out of his stupor.

"I'm fine." Minato replied. "It's just nice seeing how much fun they're having."

The elderly Shinobi nodded. "Indeed. It gives me relief knowing that Asuka has made such good friends that take care of her. Youth really is a wonderful thing."

Minato nodded absentmindedly and continued to drink his tea as Hanzō went on. "Ikaruga told me and Kiriya about the assailant that attacked you two. It was brave of you to step in and help her."

The boy shrugged. "I couldn't just let Ikaruga-senpai take her by herself. I don't like sitting on the sidelines during a dire situation when I know I could at least do something to help."

Hanzō chuckled lightly at the blue-haired Persona-users response. "It sounds to me like you have some sort of Messiah complex."

Minato rolled his eyes lightly. The Legendary Shinobi had know idea just how ironic that joke sounded given who the boy was and the actions he took that got him involved in all of this in the first place.

"By the way, Minato-kun." the old Shinobi spoke. "You wouldn't mind if I asked for a demonstration of your powers, would you?"

That request caught the blue-haired teen by slight surprise as he looked towards him. "Eh?"

"I know its a rather sudden request, but I've been curious of your power ever since Kiriya told me about your exhibition battle with the girls." Hanzō explained. "But if you're uncomfortable to do so, than that's fine as well."

While he was surprised the Legendary Shinobi asked for a demonstration of his powers, he couldn't think of a reason why he should deny him the request. So far he had been quite kind and welcoming to him, so he felt he somewhat owed it to him in a way as a form of repayment for his hospitality.

"Hey, Minato-chan!" Minato turned and flinched with surprise when he saw Hibari standing right in front of him. "Can I play with one of your Persona's?"

The blue-haired teen was yet again surprised by the request. "Um... which one?"

"The little snowman one! He's really cute!" the pinkette replied with the brightest smile he'd scene all day.

While Minato was surprised, he knew that if he said no, Hibari would probably become upset and Yagyū would most likely try to kill him if that happened. Glancing across the room, he saw the eye-patched girl staring at him with a neutral look, though he was able to pick up a slight glint in her only visible eye that he read as "Upset her and your dead". On the other hand, if he said yes, then he could allow Hanzō a demonstration of his power.

Well, better to kill two birds with one stone then.

"Sure, I guess." Minato answered as he brought out his Evoker. He then brought the gun-shaped object to the side of his head and pulled the trigger. "Jack Frost!"

In a brief flash of light, the Persona of the Magician Arcana appeared floating slightly off the floor with his usual jolly smile.

 **"Hee-ho!"** Jack Frost laughed happily while waving.

"Eeeeeeehhh~! Jack Frost-kun!" Hibari squealed with absolute delight as she scooped up the snowman and hugged him tightly against her. "He's so cute~!"

"Hey, Hibari-chan! Let me hold him too!" Asuka exclaimed as she joined the first-year in hugging the Persona. Jack Frost merely continued to give his typical jolly laugh despite having his body smothered by the two girls well-endowed chests. However, unbeknownst to the others in the room, Minato looked away to hide his faint blush as he _felt_ the softness against his face and arms.

As two girls continued to fawn over the snowman, Hanzō stared at Minato's Evoker with great interest. "So...you summon your Persona's by shooting yourself with a gun?"

The boy shook his head. "It's technically not a real gun, but yeah, it's the only way I'm able to summon my Persona's."

Minato knew that there were other methods for one to summon a Persona from his encounters with Strega and Elizabeth. Takaya Sakaki, the leader of Strega, was capable of summoning his Persona without the use of an Evoker, though he seemed to experience great pain as a result. Elizabeth was able to summon hers through Tarot Cards that she manifested during their battle before his and S.E.E.S final confrontation with Nyx Avatar.

He felt a slight shiver crawl up his spine upon remembering his fight against the Velvet Room Assistant. It was one of the few occasions where he felt almost completely outmatched in a battle, and yet by some miracle, he was still able to come out victorious.

"Hmm, interesting." Hanzō hummed to himself. "I have to say Minato-kun, you truly have a very unique ability. I'm really impressed."

"Thank you." Minato said with a slight smile. "Not to brag, but this powers' helped me out of quite a few sticky situation."

Then, in a split second, he suddenly felt someone yank his Evoker from his hand and looked up to see Katsuragi looking over it with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Seriously though, how the heck does shooting yourself with this thing make you summon those Persona's of yours?" she asked curiously.

"Katsuragi-san!" Ikaruga yelled to her fellow third-year. "Don't just steal Minato-san's belongings like that!"

The blonde kicker simply waved her off. "It's all good. I just wanna see how it works. Maybe I'll summon something too if I used it..."

 ***SMACK***

"Gah!" Katsuragi grunted as Ikaruga came up behind her and smacked her in the back of the head. She looked up and glared at the ravenette. "What the hell Ikaruga?!"

"Don't go spouting such ridiculous nonsense! I will NOT allow you to go stealing Minato-san's possessions and use them without his permission!" Ikaruga fired back as she snatched the Evoker from the blonde's hand before turning around and holding out to him with a smile. "I apologize for that, Minato-san. Here you go."

Minato smiled back as he took his Evoker from her hands. "Thanks, Ikaruga-senpai."

The black-haired swordswoman face gained a faint blush at the sight of the boys smile, making her look away with embarrassment.

 ***POOF***

Suddenly, a large smoke bomb went off and covered the entire Ninja Room, leaving everyone in a coughing fit. As the smoke started to dissipate, Kiriya appeared and gave a small bow.

"Pardon my lateness."

* * *

After the chaos finally settled down, Kiriya sat beside Hanzō as they continued to eat their meal while Minato was now sitting with the rest of the Hanzō Girls after Asuka made a big deal about him eating with them to the point of using her overwhelming cuteness to finally convince him to give in and join them, sitting between the brunette and Ikaruga.

"So, what happened?" Hanzō asked after taking a sip of his tea.

"I got a call a moment ago from Ikaruga's parents." Kiriya replied in a soft tone so that Minato and his students couldn't hear.

The Legendary Shinobi looked at him with slight surprise. "The Houou Conglomerate?"

As the two older Shinobi conversed quietly, Katsuragi turned to Minato after finishing slurping down a bite of her ramen. "So what was the Evil Shinobi who attacked you like?"

Minato glanced at her as he paused his eating before looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Well, lets see... Lets just say she was kinda...frilly."

The blonde cocked her brow in confusion. "'Frilly'? What's that supposed to mean? Was she strong?"

"Well, she would have definitely overpowered me if I didn't have my Persona's enhance my physical strength to match her's. "Minato explained. "Still though, it's pretty crazy that she was able to swing around that giant sword without dislodging her arms."

"Well Shinobi have more strength, speed and stamina than most normal people, so that kinda explains that part." Asuka said with a smile.

Katsuragi then turned to Ikaruga. "So, what happened between you two, Ikaruga? Were you able to get a few good hits in?"

"Unfortunately, I had underestimated the strength of the enemy. I probably would have been in serious trouble had Minato-san not stepped in." Ikaruga replied with a neutral expression before turning to the blue-haired boy. "I apologize again for getting you involved in that scuffle, Minato-san. I thought I could handle it myself, but in the end you had to step in and help. Again, I'm sorry."

"I already said you don't have to worry about it, senpai." Minato said while shaking his head. "I'm just glad I was able to help you out before she could seriously injure you."

While ravenette felt touched by his words, it still wasn't enough to calm the aching in her heart. _'That's true, but... I was powerless to stop her. Me...'_

"Ikaruga..." She was knocked out of her thoughts when she heard Kiriya call her name.

"Yes?" she asked as she noticed her teacher standing near one of the nearby shogi doors.

"May I have a moment?"

Ikaruga nodded as she stood up to follow him. "Hai..."

"What's wrong?" Hibari asked curiously.

"Oh, it's nothing." Kiriya replied before the two walked out the door.

Yagyū and Hibari were somewhat confused by their teacher's response when Hanzō suddenly appeared in front of them, surprising both of them.

"Hoho! You two sure are good friends, huh?" he asked lightheartedly.

"That's right!" Hibari answered with a big smile. "Huh, Yagyū-chan?"

Yagyū looked away with a slightly embarrassed expression. "I just want to keep Hibari safe, since she's always getting herself into trouble."

The pink-haired girl pouted a little at her reply. "There you go again, treating me like a kid."

Hanzō gave a hearty chuckle as he listened to their interaction. "Being good friends is a beautiful thing. I'll bet you, you know, take your baths together, right?"

"?!" Minato, who was still at the same table as the others, suddenly began to choke on his tea as soon as he heard those words leave the Legendary Shinobi's mouth. Did he seriously just say that?!

 _ **"Well, who would've thought that the so-called 'Legendary Shinobi' was just another cliche perverted old man."**_ Satan commented.

Asura gave an exasperated sigh. _**"That's just sad."**_

"Minato-kun! Are you okay?!" Asuka asked worriedly when she saw her friend choking.

The boy beat his fist against his chest and managed to clear his pipes, allowing him to regain his breathing. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just...went down the wrong tube was all."

Hibari, who didn't seem fazed at all by Hanzō's question, nodded happily while Yagyū's face became flushed. "Hai! We wash each other's backs, and everything!"

"Nice, very nice!" the elderly Shinobi said as started grabbing the air with his hands. "Sometime, I wish you'd let me join in, too."

"Jii-chan! Watch what you say to those too!" Asuka scolded, having appeared behind Hanzō.

"It's not like that, Asuka!" Hanzō quickly defended. "I was just talking about communication."

"That's Hanzō-sama for you! He gets it!" Katsuragi suddenly came up behind the brunette and proceeded to fondle her chest, causing Asuka to cry out in surprise.

As things began to get chaotic once again, Minato remained quiet as he just watched the scene with a deadpanned expression. "Guess this is what things are gonna be like from now on..."

 **"Hee-ho!"** Jack Frost laughed in agreement as he appeared on the boys shoulder before Minato casually handed him a plate of curry, to which the Persona began to scarf it down with glee.

* * *

"Onii-sama has gone missing?"

Kiriya nodded. "I got a call from your family, asking if you had any idea where he might be."

"Where he might be?" Ikaruga repeated before glancing down at the floor. "I've never even really talked with Onii-sama that much."

"I see." Kiriya replied as the ravenette bowed her head.

"I'm sorry."

The ash-haired teacher raised his hand in dismissal. "Oh, no. I thought I'd at least let you know, just to be sure. It is your family, after all."

"My family..." Ikaruga muttered before nodding. "Yes, of course."

As Kiriya turned to go back to his office, Ikaruga walked down the hall back towards the Ninja Room. Just as she was about to reach out to open the shogi door however, she suddenly paused and turned to look back down at the dark hallway she had just walked through, he eyes narrowed with caution. At that moment, Katsuragi opened the door and noticed her fellow Shinobi standing right at the entrance.

"What's the matter, Ikaruga?" she asked.

Ikaruga didn't remove her gaze from the end of the hall. "Nothing, I just felt someone's eyes following me..."

"What?!" Katsuragi's expression and tone became much more serious as the other Hanzō Shinobi ran out the room and into the hallway, looking down where Ikaruga was looking.

"There's no one there." Asuka commented.

The raven-haired Shinobi gave a slightly sheepish smile as she turned to the others. "Apparently, it was just my imagination."

"Are you alright, Ikaruga-san?" Hibari asked with slight concern.

"Of course." Ikaruga answered before clapping her hands together. "Now, we've still got half an hour left to party."

At that moment, Minato approached the door with Jack Frost hanging off his left shoulder, noticing everyone gathered there. "Everything okay over here?"

"Oh, everything's alright Minato-kun." Asuka replied with a smile. Then she and the others noticed Minato carrying his school bag over his shoulder. "Huh? Are you leaving already?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I have work after school tomorrow and I wanna avoid falling asleep while on the clock."

"Does that mean we won't see you tomorrow?" Hibari asked as she gave a downcast expression.

Not wanting to see the adorable pinkette cry (and risk possibly facing Yagyū's wrath), Minato gave a reassuring smile. "No, but you can stop by for dinner sometime if you'd like."

That made the girls eyes light up and give out a collective "YES!", causing Minato to sweat drop at their over-enthusiasm.

"Then I'll see you guys then." The blue-haired boy dismissed Jack Frost back to the Sea of Souls (but not before Hibari gave the Persona a big hug goodbye) and gave his goodbyes to his Shinobi friends.

As Minato walked down the hall towards where the exit was, he paused when he could've sworn he felt a presence behind him. However, when he turned around, he saw no one there.

 _ **"Are you** **alright?"**_ Sandalphon inquired.

Minato shook his head. "I thought I just... It's nothing. Lets go."

Just as Minato turned around and walked away to look for the exit, a pair of dark blue eyes peered out of one of the rooms with a dark, piercing glare at Minato.

* * *

 **The next day:**

It was another day at Hanzō Academy as Minato sat at his seat in Mr. Nakejima's class, listening to the teacher going through his lecture. As the blue-haired boy watched Mr. Nakejima write on the blackboard, he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with an inaudible sigh.

After his and Ikaruga's encounter with the girl Yomi, meeting Hanzō and the events that occurred during his welcome party, he honesty wished he could have the day off. He even had work after school today, so he knew he was going to be extremely exhausted by the end of the day. However, he knew that he would just have to suck it up and soldier through the day if he wanted to earn his paycheck.

Mr. Nakajima finished writing on the board and turned to face his students. "Now then, can anyone identify the deity who led the Hmong and Li Tribes against the Yellow Emperor in Chinese mythology?" He then turned towards Minato, who looked rather exhausted. "Arisato?"

Minato's head instantly snapped up. "The half-man, half-bull war deity, Chi You."

The other students stared with gaped expressions while Mr. Nakajima lightly shook is head.

"I was going to ask if you wanted a window open, but you're right nonetheless." he said just as the lunch bell started to ring. "Alright, we'll finish this lesson after lunch."

After the teacher left the room, a majority of the students got up to head to the cafeteria. As Minato got up to do the same, he saw Eito and Kazuyo walk up to him.

"Hey, Arisato! You heading out for lunch too?" the brown-haired boy asked.

"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty hungry today." Minato responded as he grabbed his school bag and rested it over his shoulder.

"Do you want to join us then?" Kazuyo inquired. "We were thinking of going there too."

The blue-haired teen smiled at the offer. "Sure. Better than going alone."

Eito grinned at his answer. "Then lets go and-"

"MINATO-KUN~!"

All three teens froze in place as a familiar, over-enthusiastic voice call out Minato's name. They all slowly turned to see Emiko standing at the entrance to their classroom with a bright smile before running up towards the group and glomped the blue-haired teen.

"Mou, Minato-kun!" she started with an adorable pout. "Don't tell me you were planning on going to lunch without inviting me!"

Minato tried to answer, but his face was being smothered by the girls large breasts, causing only muffled sounds to be heard.

"Kaichou!" Kazuyo exclaimed with a glare. "How many times are you going to keep doing that to Minato-kun?! Don't you realize he can't breath?!"

Emiko gave a look of hurt as she hugged Minato tighter against her. "B-But if I'm not able to hold my dear Minato-kun at least once a day, then I won't survive!"

"The heck's that supposed to mean?" Eito asked with a sweatdrop at the 3rd-Years over-dramatic display.

Emiko's reply only seemed to anger Kazuyo more. "You're being ridiculous, Kaichou! Now let go of Minato-kun!"

"No! You cannot make me!" the Student Council President answered in her over-dramatic voice. "I will not let you steal my Minato-kun from me any-"

"EMIKO!"

The four students stopped and slowly turned towards the entrance of the classroom to see yet another girl standing there. She seemed to be around Emiko's age and was dressed in the traditional Hanzō Academy uniform. She had long bright red hair tied in a long pony-tail and bright yellow eyes that gave her a very stern and somewhat intimidating appearance.

Eito and Kazuyo's eyes widened at the sight of the newcomer. "Yamada-senpai!"

"Kara-chan!" Emiko exclaimed as well. "What a surprise to see you here too!"

"I told you not to call me that!" the girl, now known as Kara, yelled at her fellow 3rd-Year with her hands on hips before looking down at the blue-haired boy in Emiko's grasp. "Are you giving Arisato-kun a hard time again?"

The brunette gave a defensive look. "I was just asking Minato-kun if I could join him for lunch!"

Kara crossed her arms. "Uh-huh, I see. Though don't you think you should give Arisato-kun some breathing room? He looks like he's about to pass out."

Emiko blinked before looking down and noticing that Minato's arms were flailing around frantically, indicating he was running out of breath. "Wah! M-Minato-kun! I'm sorry!"

She quickly let go and Minato immediately let out a gasp of air as he took a few steps back, slowly regaining his breath. "It's...fine, Fukuhara-senpai. And thanks for the help, Yamada-senpai."

Kara gave a smile. "No problem. I can't afford to let anything bad happen to favorite sparring partner."

Much like with his other friends, Minato knew Kara Yamada since he first enrolled at Hanzō Academy. A 3rd-Year student like Emiko, she was the head of the school's Kendo Club and was apparently a Kendo prodigy since childhood from what he had heard.

He had first met Kara only a weeks after enrolling while she was passing out recruitment ads for the Kendo Club. When she first saw him, she immediately tried to convince him to join, though he politely refused, saying he preferred to focus on his studies. Since then, she would sometimes invite Minato to be her training partner before upcoming Kendo events, believing he was the only student at Hanzō who could give her a real challenge. He found her lessons to be incredibly helpful, as they helped resharpen his combat skills since coming to this world.

"Anyway," Eito spoke up, "weren't we going to lunch?"

Kazuyo nodded. "Yeah, we should go before the cafeteria gets too crowded."

"Lets get going then." Minato said as he began to lead his friends towards the door. "See you around, Fukuhara-senpai. Yamada-senpai.

"W-Wait! I wanna come too!" Emiko exclaimed as she reached out to follow them. However, she was stopped when Kara grabbed her by the back of her shirt. "H-Hey, Kara-chan!

The red-haired girl gave a glare. "Oh, no you don't! Mayumi-san told me to come pick you up for a meeting with the rest of the Student Council, so you better not try to duck out!"

"Aw, come on!" the brunette whined.

* * *

 **Meanwhile:**

"Today's lesson is about genealogy." Kiriya informed his students just as he finished writing on the chalkboard.

Katsuragi raised an eyebrow. "Genealogy? Boooring! Lets fight!"

"Calm down. There's more to your training than just fighting." the ash-haired teacher stated calmly.

"Whaaat?"

Hibari raised her hand. "Umm... So, the lesson is about our ancestors? What do we do?"

"You're each going to trace your lineage." Kiriya explained. "It's extremely important that you know this. Who your Shinobi ancestors were, and what you've inherited from them."

Then, Asuka raised her hand next. "So...how far back should we go?"

"As far as you can. Begin with the oldest Shinobi relative you're aware of."

"Okay! Got it!" The brunette said, but before the teacher could say another word... "DONE!"

Kiriya blinked. "That was fast."

Asuka showed off her paper proudly, which only had her, her mother and her grandfather written down on it. "In my family, Jii-chan and Kaa-chan are Shinobi. Since Tou-chan is an ordinary person, he doesn't really count. But I wanna be a great Shinobi like Jii-chan!"

"...All right then." Kiriya said with a sigh of resignation.

From there, Ikaruga and Yagyū began to write down their family trees while Katsuragi and Hibari seemed to be having some difficulty.

"There's no way I can list them all!" the pinkette complained loudly. "This bites!"

"You'll have to stay until you're done." Kiriya informed her.

"WHAT?!"

Katsuragi glanced over at Asuka's paper. "You forgot to write down your measurements. Here, I'll add them."

"Hey-! How do you know my measurements?!"

As the middle-aged teacher continued to watch his students work on their family trees, he glanced over towards Ikaruga and noticed that she was simply staring at her paper with a blank expression, her paint brush hovering over the paper motionless.

"What'st the matter, Ikaruga?" he asked, causing the ravenette to snap out of her zoned out state. "Why did you stop?"

Ikaruga quickly shook her head. "My apologies. I'll finish it."

As she started to write her own name on her paper, Asuka could've sworn she saw tears stinging the 3rd-Years eyes. "Ikaruga-san? What's wrong?"

"O-Oh...It's nothing." she replied with a slight smile, though the brunette still couldn't help but feel concerned for her senior.

* * *

As soon as the lunch bell rang, the five Hanzō Shinobi gathered underneath a tree in an open field area behind the old school building to eat lunch together. Laying out a picnic blanket under the shade of the tree, the girls began to start digging into their lunches, save for Ikaruga who was still laying out her kaiseki cuisine when she noticed she had forgotten something

"Ah. No tea..."

Asuka glanced at her as she started munching on a futomaki roll. "Mmmph?"

"Yeah... When she eats food like this, she _has_ to have it with green tea." Katsuragi explained to her.

"Oh dear. I'll be right back." Ikaruga said as she stood up and made her way back towards the school.

* * *

As Ikaruga entered the Ninja Room, she noticed that the room was now rather dark with Kiriya nowhere to be seen, having apparently gone back to his office for the lunch break. With the lights from the hall casting a small amount of light into the room through the shogi door, the raven-haired girl took only a step when she suddenly felt a presence in the room with her.

"Who's there?!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of kunai daggers.

"Oi, oi. You'll poke someone's eye out if you aren't careful." a voice addressed her as a young, slightly pale-skinned man stumbled out from the shadows.

He had long black hair with long bangs covering his forehead and parts of his dark blue eyes. He wore a long white coat with a blue collar that was unzipped to show off his bare chest and equally white pants.

Ikaruga's eyes widened with utter shock. "O-Onii-sama!"

It was her older brother, Muramase, who she had just been informed the night before had run away from home.

"Long time, so see, little sis." Muramase greeted.

"Onii-sama... What are you doing with Hien?" Ikaruga asked upon noticing her sword in her brothers hand.

Murasame raised an eyebrow with a cynical smirk. "What am I doing? Ha ha ha! What, indeed! This belongs to me. I'll do with it what I want."

The ravenette shook her head. "You're mistaken. Otou-sama and Okaa-sama gave that to..."

That was as far as she got before closing her mouth tightly, preventing further words from coming out. However, it didn't help.

"Otou-sama and Okaa-sama? How DARE you be so impudent!" Murasame's eyes became dark with hatred, forcing Ikaruga to avert her gaze away from them. "Yes, that's right. I wasn't 'given' Hien. But this sword is a family heirloom. It has no business in the hands of an outsider to the bloodline."

His sharp words were practically cutting right through her, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything, knowing full well he was right.

"Hien was supposed to... It really was supposed to..." Murasame teeth clenched tightly as he glared hard at Ikaruga. "You... If only you weren't around..."

"Then what? What if she wasn't around?"

The two raised their heads in surprise as a new voice spoke up, causing them to turn just as a third individual appeared from the shadows with a neutral gaze.

"Minato-san?!" Ikaruga said in shock.

"Hey. Sorry Ikaruga-senpai, but it sounded like you were in distress, so I figured I should help." Minato then turned his attention towards Murasame, his gaze become more serious. "And as for you, don't you think that's pretty cruel of you to go spouting all those hurtful things to your own sister?"

The black-haired young man responded with another glare. "And what does it matter to you? You're nothing more than an outsider. This has nothing to do with you!"

"You're right, it doesn't." Minato replied, his gaze not wavering in the slightest. "But I honestly could care less."

He then walked over and positioned himself between the two siblings as he faced Murasame. "I'm only going to say this once. Return Ikaruga-senpai's sword to her at once."

"You think you can order me?!" Murasame yelled angrily. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Minato Arisato. Nice to meet you." he responded. "Now, you gonna give it back, or are you going to make this more difficult then it should?"

The opposing male's fury began to rise again at the impassive response. "NO! That filthy mongrel doesn't deserve it! It should've been mine! She doesn't belong in my family and she never will!"

Murasame's words were like a dagger stabbing Ikaruga in the heart repeatedly. The girl gripped the hem of her skirt and stared at the ground as she listened to her brother assault her ears with such awful insults. Minato's gaze hardened as he slowly brought his hand towards his pants pocket to draw his Evoker, but then paused. He wanted to avoid having this confrontation turn violent, and summoning a Persona definitely wouldn't help. He didn't know what kind of history these two had, but if it was really as serious as it appeared, then he knew there was only one way to resolve this.

"...Go get it back."

Ikaruga darted her head up towards Minato, who was glancing back towards her. "W-What?"

"Don't just take all his garbage laying down like that. Show him you're not afraid." the blue-haired teen spoke, making her eyes widen. "You're a 3rd-Year Shinobi student, aren't you? Show him he doesn't have the right to call you unworthy when you worked yourself hard to make it this far."

"But..."

"But nothing." Minato interrupted. "You trained your entire life to reach this point while he decides to take the cowardly way by taking something he obviously doesn't deserve. You obviously earned that sword because you worked for it. So go over there, and show him why you clearly deserve Hien more than him."

While Minato's words were slowly sinking within her, Ikaruga still couldn't bring herself to move, as if her feet were rooted to the spot where she stood.

"It's...not that simple."

This time, Minato turned himself around fully to look directly at her. "Then show him the cool and confident class representative that Asuka and the others look up to. How are they gonna find the confidence to move forward if you keep yourself shackled down by fear like this? You're life choices are yours to make, not his. He's not your responsibility."

He watched as her bottom lip began to quiver before her eyes rapidly blinked to ward off the growing mist clouding her world. He was right. What was she thinking? Murasame wasn't her responsibility. He didn't have any right to tell her off when she worked so much harder than him to get to where she is now. He didn't have any right to dictate her life. She chose to walk the Path of the Shinobi and she wasn't going to let her brother's jealously force her to leave that path!

Suddenly, Ikaruga vanished, displacing the air with a soft 'fwtt' and a gust of wind. Not even a second later, Murasame yelped when he realized he was suddenly empty-handed.

The long-sword had disappeared.

He looked up just as the raven-haired girl phased in front of Minato with Hien held securely in her hands and a sturdy gaze befitting a Shinobi warrior.

"It's true...I've merely been scared of a ghost. Onii-sama, you are petty, jealous, and only embarrass yourself with these childish temper tantrums of yours. You do not deserve to wield Hien. Return home and never come back."

Murasame eyes flared with anger once again. " Why you-! Hien is mine! I will take it back without fail! No matter what I have to do, no matter how long it takes, I _will_ take it back!" He was growing belligerent in light of the sudden upturn. One minute Ikaruga was shaking like a frightened child, but then that blue-haired boy suddenly turns up and now she was suddenly opposing him without hesitation.

Unable to contain himself any longer, he reached into his coat and produced a wicked-looking kusarigama, with the heavy end of the chain poised to throw. "When I was in elementary school, I placed sixth in a local chain-sickle tournament!"

 ** _"That doesn't really sound like something to be boastful about."_** Yurlunger commented with a flat tone.

Surt nodded. **_"On that, I agree."_**

Minato instinctively drew his Evoker from his pocket and went to raise it, but was stopped as a womanly hand on his forearm kept him from summoning a Persona to attack the aggravated teen. Seeing him somewhat mollified, Ikaruga gave his skin a quick squeeze before raising the lengthy sheath of her sword to her large breast.

"That will never happen. It will never be yours and nothing you do will ever change that." Ikaruga's look of determination brightened her demeanor as she finished her statement. "I won't be scared any longer. Please take care."

A thick red ribbon wrapped around her hand as she reached inside a nearby wall ornament and grabbed the hidden item. At that moment, the floorboards beneath Murasame's feet dropped open to reveal a trap door that led to a seemingly bottomless pit. Gravity took its course as weightlessness overtook him and he began to fall into the shadows of the blackened hole.

"DAMN YOUUUUUUU~!" Murasame's angry curse echoed out as he disappeared into the darkness before Ikaruga pulled on the rope again, causing the trap doors to close back up again.

Silence overtook the room as Ikaruga clenched Hien tightly in her grasp, a weighty wetness building along her eyes. However, the tears seem to disappear as quickly as they appeared as she turned around.

"Minato-sa..." she spoke up before stopping upon realizing that the blue-haired teen was now nowhere to be seen, having somehow vanished without her realizing. Despite that though, a faint smile graced her lips as she held Hien close to her chest.

 _'Minato-san... Thank you.'_

"Ikaruga-san!"

The ravenette blinked as Asuka's voice suddenly called out to her from behind. "What's wrong? You've been gone for a while."

"Oh, it's nothing." Ikaruga replied as she shook her head. "Now, back outside, shall we?"

However, Asuka then raised her hand. "Oh, hold on. Before we go back, I wanna show you this. Check it out!"

Ikaruga watched as the brunette brought out a family tree, but when she noticed what was written down on it, her eyes widened. "Ah..."

It wasn't just an ordinary family tree. It included everyone in the Shinobi class all lined up, with Ikaruga as the mother, Katsuragi as the father, then Asuka, Yagyū and Hibari as the children.

"The five of us are basically a family, so I decided to write that up." the brunette said with an innocent smile.

Ikaruga could only stare at the family tree as her vision started to blur again. To her, it felt okay to have her name listed there. After all, in her Shinobi class, she had another family.

Asuka gasped when she noticed tears beginning to streak down the raven-haired girls cheeks. "Wha... Ikaruga-san, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Did something make you sad?"

This time, Ikaruga no longer felt the need to hide her tears any longer and shook her head.

"I'm not sad at all." she said with a broad smile. "I'm crying because I'm happy. Thank you, Asuka-san."

Upon seeing her expression of gratitude, the brunette could only stare with bewilderment.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the cafeteria, Eito and Kazuyo sat at one of the lunch tables waiting for their blue-haired friend to return. While the latter was calmly eating from her bento box, the former tapped his foot impatiently while propping his chin up with his hand.

"Seriously, where the heck did Arisato go?" Eito asked.

Kazuyo shrugged her shoulders. "He said he needed to go use the restroom really quick and that he'd meet us here."

"Well he's sure taking his sweet time, that's for sure." the brown-haired boy grumbled before taking a sip from his bottled water. "This was supposed to be our time to hang out."

"Didn't realize you cared so much for our little social gatherings."

Eito nearly choked on his water when Minato came up from behind him and spoke those words with his usual stoic look, catching him and Kazuyo completely by surprise.

"Gah! Jeez Arisato, don't just sneak up on people like that! It's super creepy how quiet you are!"

Minato couldn't help but smile a little at his friends reaction. "Sorry, just couldn't help myself I guess."

Kazuyo stared at the boy curiously as he sat down beside Eito. "Are you okay, Arisato-kun? You were gone for quite a while."

"Lets just say I had to break up a little sibling quarrel on my way here." he answered vaguely as he pulled out his bento box and started eating.

The blue-haired boys companions turned towards each other with looks of confusion at his response, but chose to brush it aside for the moment as they went to work on their own lunches.

* * *

 **Later that evening:**

"Whew! It was quite a busy shift today, wasn't it?" an elderly man commented as he wiped his brow with a handkerchief.

Minato shrugged as he finished putting away a pile of clean dishes. "I wouldn't say it was all that bad Kano-san, but I get what you mean."

An elderly woman standing beside the man gave the boy a grateful nod. "Thank you again for all your help tonight, Arisato-kun. We're sorry to keep stacking so much work on you, but with you being the only other employee here, there's really no one else to turn to for help."

"There's no reason for you to apologize, Kawako-san." Minato replied. "I'm always willing to lend you two a helping hand whenever I'm available, so don't hesitate to ask me."

The grey-haired woman smiled at his words, Hah, if only our sons were as sweet and considerate as you. Those two boys seemed to have forgotten about us after they left, and they hardly do anything!"

"It's true." The elderly man nodded. "Why couldn't they be as as hard working or mature like you? Last we heard from them, all they ever seemed to talk about were partying and women. They're probably at least six years older than you and, yet you act older and more mature than them!"

 _'That's probably because I'm not like most other guys.'_ he thought in response.

Kano and Kawako Nakamura were the first people Minato had met since coming to this world that had offered their assistance to him. Having told them a story that his parents had passed away and that he had been displaced by the rest of his extended family (which was technically half-true), the elderly couple decided to take him in and paid for the apartment that he stayed at as well as help enroll him into Hanzō Academy. Not wanting to feel like he was taking advantage of their generosity, the boy decided to repay them for their kindness by working for them at their small, yet popular business. Minato managed to take care of a majority of the work, not wanting the two to strain themselves in their old age. In a way, they reminded him of Bunkichi and Mitsuko, which made him all the more willing to help them out.

"Well, I think that's enough work for today." Kano announced. "Why don't you head home for tonight, Arisato-kun. You're probably exhausted. We'll finish closing up here."

Minato blinked. "Are you sure. I can give you a hand if you-"

Before he could finish, a light knock on the head drew his attention to Kawako, who was holding up a ladle that she used to hit him. "Arisato-kun, you should listen to your elders. You can go home and get a good night's sleep, understand young man?" She brandished the ladle as if it were some sort of weapon, and the blue-haired boy found himself nodding. It was a silent rule that if an elderly woman scolds you with a kitchen utensil, then the best thing to do was to just clam up and walk away.

"Okay, I'll see you later then. Thank you for your generosity." Minato bowed and took his leave, but stopped for a moment once he entered bar area of the restaurant to grab some stools and stack them upside down along the hardwood bar.

 _'Just one less thing for them to worry about.'_

* * *

With his day finally over, Minato climbed the stairs of his apartment building to get some much needed rest after the long and eventful day he had. A part of him still wished he could ask Ikaruga about the man that had confronted her to steal her sword. However, from what he had heard between the two, it seemed like a family matter and decided not to pry any further. Ikaruga was a capable woman, so he felt he didn't have to worry too much.

Then, just as he made to his floor and started to make his way to his room, he stopped when he saw the raven-haired girl herself leaning back against the wall next to the door of his room, as if waiting for someone.

"Ikaruga-senpai?"

Ikaruga looked up and turned to see Minato approaching her with a somewhat surprised look. "Ah, Minato-san. Did you have a good day today?"

"I guess you could say that." he answered. "But what are you doing here?"

The girl then looked off to the side to avoid his gaze, as if too shy or embarrassed to answer him for a moment. "May I...speak to you for a moment? There's something I'd like to tell you."

Minato accepted with a small nod and opened his apartment door to allow the raven-haired girl inside. He told her make herself comfortable as he went off into the kitchen to make some tea for them. Ikaruga sat down seiza-style on one side of the glass coffee table and after a few minutes, Minato came out of the kitchen holding two cups of tea. He set one cup down in front of the 3rd-Year before seating himself across from her, watching as she took an graceful sip of the refreshing drink.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Minato-san. I apologize if I caught you at a bad time." Ikaruga apologized with a slight bow of her head.

"It's fine Ikaruga-senpai." the boy answered. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, first, I would like to thank your for helping me earlier today with my brother. Were it not for your intervention, that situation could have possibly gotten far too out of hand."

Minato shook his head. "I only did what I thought was right. It looked like he was causing you trouble, so I just felt it was best to intervene. Still though, was that guy really your brother?"

"Actually, that's also why I came to see you." she replied before looking away. "You see, I haven't been entirely truthful with you."

The blue-haired Persona-user was somewhat confused by what she was saying. What did she mean she hadn't been truthful? Ikaruga remained silent for a minute as she pondered on how she should explain, but she knew that the best thing to do was to just be honest and tell him the whole truth.

"Do you...remember when I told you yesterday how I was the daughter of the Houou Family?" she asked hesitantly.

Now Minato was slightly more confused by that question. "Yeah, I remember. Why do you ask?"

Ikaruga lightly bit her bottom lip as she struggled to come clean, before she eventually steeled her resolve and lifted her head to look Minato in the eyes.

"Well, the truth is...I'm adopted."

The room became dead silent the moment she let those words leave her lips. Minato stared at the black-haired Shinobi with a wide-eyed expression as he thought back to what Murasame had said about Ikaruga earlier now that day about being an 'outsider'.

"Adopted?" he repeated.

Ikaruga nodded. "Yes. You see, the Houou Conglomerate is not only a famous organization, but is also a rich, noble Shinobi clan. Onii-sama, who at the time was the only son of the clan heads, was meant to inherit the family treasure, Hien, but lacked the sufficient talent to become a Shinobi. I came from a lesser, distant branch of the clan and when Onii-sama's parents heard that I showed great promise as a Shinobi, I was adopted into the family and granted Hien. Since then, Onii-sama has showed nothing but resentment and hatred towards me, since to him, I stole something that he believes rightfully belongs to him."

Minato remained silent as he listened to the raven-haired girls explanation. Now it made sense to him why Murasame had said all of those terrible things about Ikaruga back at the Ninja Room. His resentment for her must have been great if he was willing to go out of his way to steal her sword right out from under her.

"Why didn't you just tell me earlier?" he asked, though he felt that he already knew the reason why.

"I didn't want you to have to concern yourself with my family affairs. It's been like this between Onii-sama and myself since we first met, and I didn't want to drag you into our family drama."

Minato's expression softened a little and he nodded in understanding. She was just trying to spare him from being caught in the crossfire between her and her brother, but even still, that did little to excuse Murasame's behavior towards Ikaruga.

"Ikaruga-senpai, no offense, but it just sounds like your brother is blaming you for something you had no control over." he said, voicing his own opinion on the matter. "I know that it isn't any of my business, but if he thinks that you're the reason he lost his chance to become a Shinobi, then that's on him. You said it yourself that he lacked the talent necessary, so don't blame yourself for your brothers failures."

The 3rd-Year responded with a small smile and a nod. "Yes, I think I understand now thanks to you. Onii-sama was just being petty and wanted to cast the blame for his misfortune onto someone else. I still feel bad for the pain that he had to go through because of my parents decision, but hopefully he'll eventually come around and realize that there are other professions he can seek out aside from just becoming a Shinobi."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll eventually come to realize that sooner or later." Minato assured her, feeling glad to see that the 3rd-Year Shinobi was finally back to high spirits.

Ikaruga's smile then became more radiant. "Thank you for your kind words, Minato-san. I don't know what I would've done without them."

 _ ***CRACK***_

 _ **Thou art I... And I am Thou...**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond...**_

 _ **It shalt further stretch your Universe**_

 _ **Thou shalt have our blessings when thou chooses**_

 _ **To create a Persona of the Empress Arcana...**_

At that moment, time seemed to go completely still for a moment as a Tarot Card suddenly manifested in front of him, this one having the number III, which he recalled being the Empress. After a few moments, the card eventually vanished into thin air and time began to restart again.

"By the way, Minato-san." Ikaruga spoke up, causing the blue-haired boy to bring his focus back towards her. "If you don't mind, I have a favor I would like to ask of you."

"What kind of favor?" he asked curiously.

The raven-haired girl looked off to the side before letting out a sigh. "It seems that Asuka-san is still having some difficulty in overcoming her fear of frogs and it's started to affect her performance during training. I wan't to be able to help her get through this fear of hers, so I would like to ask for your assistance if that's possible."

Minato thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement. "I think I can work something out. What do you need me to do?"

Ikaruga smiled at the boys reply. "Ah, thank you Minato-san! Well, here's what I need you to do."

The Persona-user leaned in close and paid close attention as his senior began to explain her plan to help their adorable brown-haired Shinobi friend finally overcome her fear of frogs.

* * *

 **The following afternoon:**

As the school day once again came to an end, the Shinobi students of Hanzō Academy were still going through their usual routine of training, this time in the woods just outside of Asakusa. Katsuragi was busy practicing wall-climbing exercises while Yagyū was helping Hibari with combat practice. Meanwhile, Ikaruga and Asuka were speaking with Kiriya, who seemed somewhat surprised by what the former was asking him.

"You want to carry on Secret Ninja Art training?"

Ikaruga nodded. "So, may I have your permission?"

"Um, no, it wouldn't be right." Asuka tried to speak up, though her words seemed to fall on deaf ears when Kiriya smiled.

"Very well." he replied.

The 3rd-Year bowed her head in thanks before grabbing her juniors hand and pulling her away towards another section of the training grounds.

"The waterfall basin over there will do."

"Hold on! Ikaruga-san!"

Once they arrived, the two Shinobi-in-training changed out of their uniforms (save for their undergarments) and changed back into white bath robs before placing themselves underneath the roaring waterfall.

"W-Why are we doing cold-water ablutions?" Asuka asked, not looking all that comfortable of having a constant flow of cold water come crashing down onto her body.

"First of all, you must become one with the sensations of the creature you are summoning." Ikaruga answered, taking the ablution in stride as she stood in a meditative position. "For frogs, that would be water."

"H-Hai!"

After roughly ten minutes, Asuka was was sitting down on one of the rocks in the middle of the shallow pond as she wrapped her arms around herself to try and get warm, her body trembling and her teeth chattering from the cold.

"Do you feel like a frog yet?"

The cute brunette managed a small nod. "H-Hai, sort of."

"Well then...!" Ikaruga suddenly pulled out a straw basket full of frogs and flung it towards Asuka, who let out a shrill cry as the amphibious creatures flew into the pond with her.

Nearby, the others could hear their classmates cries of terror and couldn't help but feel slight pity and concern for whatever it was Ikaruga was putting her through.

"Asuka-chan..." Hibari muttered.

"You think she's okay?" Katsuragi asked.

Yagyū shrugged. "She has a long way to go."

Back at the pond, Asuka screamed as some of the frogs jumped on her, causing her to make some unintentionally compromising poses in an attempt to avoid touching them. Eventually, some of the frogs landed in the water and swam away except for one that was calmly sitting on a rock beside the girl as she tried to calm down.

"I can't do it!" she exclaimed. "I can't touch them, let alone be chummy with them!"

Ikaruga sighed at the way brunettes behavior. "You're only afraid because you think you are."

"I'm sorry, Ikaruga-san. And here you're taking the time to work with me..." she apologized with a guilty expression.

"Of course I am." the ravenette answered with a smile. "We're family, after all."

Asuka blinked upon hearing her say that. "Family?"

Suddenly feeling slightly flustered by what she had just said, Ikaruga looked away with a mild blush. "Just keep at it, okay?"

"Ha-Hai!" the brunette replied, feeling some slight reassurance once again. Asuka turned to the rock where the last remaining frog sat and slowly extended her hand out towards it. "Just a little farther..."

Just as her fingers were about a few inches away, the frog suddenly jumped off of its rock and landed onto the back of her hand, instantly causing goosebumps to crawl up her arm as she started to have another freak out.

"Aah! Ikaruga-san!" she screamed as she stumbled back in the water and landed on her rear with her arm still held out, the frog remaining unmoved and unfazed.

"You can't even brush it away?" Ikaruga inquired.

Asuka quickly shook her head. "Well, I'd feel bad for the frog if I did that!"

The black-haired Shinobi was slightly surprised by what she just heard. "'Feel bad for it'?"

"I mean, if I were to suddenly slap it away, I'd feel bad, you know?"

Ikaruga mulled over what her brunette friend had said before it seemed to dawn on her. Realizing that now was the time to put her plan into motion, she gave a smile. "I'm going to head over and see how the others are doing."

"Huh? Oh, no! You're going to leave me alone with the frog?!" Asuka exclaimed as the 3rd-Year turned and started sprinting into the bamboo forest.

"Good luck!" was all she got in response as Ikaruga's retreating figure vanished.

Realizing that she was now all alone with the frog resting on her hand, Asuka turned to look the frog in the eyes, a nervous sweat dripping down her face. "I'm not afraid... I'm not afraid... No! I really am afraid!"

 _ **"GRROOAAAAA!"**_

A loud roar snapped the brunette out of her stupor and she turned around to see a large creature perched atop some large rocks that surrounded the pond, it's body blotting out the sun and casting a shadow over the girl. Once her eyes were able to adjust to the lighting, she noticed that the creature looked like a tiger, but not like any tiger that she knew of. It was somewhat larger than a normal tiger and was covered in snow white fur with jet black stripe and bright blue eyes. The fur around its neck was much longer, thicker and more wavy, much like the mane of a lion, and even similar type fur around its ankles. It's tail was also longer and thinner than a normal tigers, with the tip having a small tuft of white fur at the end.

The tiger gave a sharp glare down at Asuka, making her slightly tremble under its gaze. It felt like the animal was staring right through her and peering directly into her soul, causing her spine to crawl. It then let out another roar before leaping off from its perch and down towards Asuka, who quickly hunkered down as the tiger sailed over her head and landed behind her. The granddaughter of Hanzō raised her head and glanced behind her to see that the tiger was now in the pond with her, the creature having turned itself around to face her with its two large white canine teeth almost gleaming in the sunlight.

Asuka hadn't felt this petrified since she and her friends faced off against Susano-o. The way her body trembled under the tigers piercing gaze felt similar to when she first came face-to-face with the God of Storms. She watched the tiger as it slowly stalked towards her, her heart-rate and panic increasing the closer it got to her. Then, Asuka noticed the frog that had been resting on her hand suddenly jump off and land on a small rock in front of her as the tiger knelt down and looked to be preparing to pounce the girl.

 _'The frog!'_ Realizing the frog would most likely be crushed if the tiger landed on it, the young Shinobi-in-training shot up using her enhanced speed to dive-bombed towards the frog just as the tiger leaped into the air with its claws outstretched and its fangs bared.

Asuka managed to safely scoop up the frog with both hands and squeezed her eyes shut as she quickly hugged it close to her bosom, hoping to shield the amphibious creature from harm. The brunette waited for the moment where the tiger would strike her down.

...However, she felt nothing.

After a few more seconds of waiting, the girl finally opened eyes and slowly lifted her head up to see the tiger was standing right in front of her. But this time, Asuka noticed that it no longer showed any signs of hostility. It's body was more relaxed and its eyes were no longer predatory, but more tranquil and docile, making her feel oddly relaxed.

"Wha...?" she muttered in confusion.

"It looks like my suspicions were right."

A familiar voice caught Asuka's attention and she turned to see Ikaruga standing at the shore of the pond with a proud smile on her face.

"I-Ikaruga-san?"

The raven-haired girl continued to smile. "It seems you can finally touch it on your own, huh?"

Asuka was slightly confused by what she meant until she looked down at her hands and realized she was still holding the frog in her hand. "Huh? I thought the frog was gonna die, so..."

"Are you still afraid of it?" Ikaruga asked, to which Asuka shook her head.

"No. Huh? That's strange." she commented as stared at the frog in her hands closer. "Why is that? And...it's kind of...cute...? Huh? Huh?"

Ikaruga's smile never left her face. "I should have realized it sooner. That's just the kind of person you are, after all?"

"Yeah, it looks like your hunch was right, Ikaruga-senpai." a third voice spoke up.

Asuka's eyes widened with surprise when a familiar blue-haired boy appeared from the bamboo forest and stood next to Ikaruga. "Wha- Minato-kun?"

Minato nodded with a light smile. "Yeah, sorry for scaring you like that, Asuka-san. Ikaruga-senpai thought it would be the only way to help you with your fear."

The brunette was slightly confused by the boys words until she turned her attention towards the white tiger standing in front of her, then back to her friends. Then the tiger and back again until the realization hit her.

"Wait... YOU MEAN THIS WAS YOUR PLAN?!"

* * *

After that whole incident had been cleared up, Asuka was now standing in the middle of a section of the bamboo forest with her Shinobi Tenshin activated and her twin wakizashi in hand. The girl closed her eyes as the image of a large green frog flashed in her mind before a bright green fire-like energy appeared and surrounded the blades of her dual weapons. Her eyes then snapped open as she gave a look of sheer confidence.

"Here I go!" With that, Asuka shot forward and ran full sprint ahead as her swords continued to give off their green energy. **"Secret Ninja Art - Dual Slash!"**

As she continued to sprint through the forest, Asuka swung both of her swords in unison, sending out two crescent-shaped energy blades that sliced through several thick bamboo stocks. The young Shinobi then came to a sudden halt, her feet skidding across the ground as she slowly sheathed her two blades. As soon as they were fully sheathed, several tall bamboo trees began to tip over and crashed to the ground like dominoes, carving out a large path behind the girl.

Realizing that she had finally succeeded in pulling off a Secret Ninja Art, Asuka started beaming with delight. "I did it!"

"Awesome!" Katsuragi cheered while pumping her fist in the air.

"Wow!" Hibari said with absolute awe and happiness.

Even Yagyū couldn't hold back a smile. "That was something."

"You did it, Asuka-san!" Ikaruga called out happily.

A short distance away from the group, Kiriya gave a proud smile upon seeing his student finally master her Secret Ninja Art. "Nicely done."

Hanzō, who was standing next to Kiriya, noticed his granddaughter waving her arms while smiling happily. "Jii-chan! I did it!"

"Mmm-hmm! Well done!" he replied with a bright smile while making a peace sign.

As Katsuragi, Yagyū and Hibari ran up to congratulate their friend, Kiriya walked up beside Ikaruga, his smile never leaving. "How did she conqueror her fear of frogs?"

"Asuka-san is someone who is naturally nice to everyone." the raven-haired Shinobi answered with her own smile. "Because she was so firmly convinced that she was afraid, she had simply created a barrier in her mind. And so, once she was able to voluntarily touch the frog, that barrier was gone in a flash."

The middle-aged teach looked quite impressed. "I see. You really are someone she can turn to, Ikaruga. You've even put me to shame."

Ikaruga shook her head. "No. I probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off myself had Minato-san not agreed to help."

As soon as she said that, Asuka and the other Hanzō Shinobi looked up to see Minato walking up to them while the white tiger from earlier walked beside him. "Minato-kun! Did you see?! I finally got my Secret Animal! It's all thanks to you and Ikaruga-san!"

The blue-haired Persona-user just smiled and shook his head. "It wasn't just me and Ikaruga-senpai. You never would've been able to bring yourself to touch the frog willingly without Byakko here."

As he gestured to the tiger standing beside him, Asuka gave a sheepish smile. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Thanks a lot, Byakko-kun! I wouldn't have done it without your help!"

The tiger, Byakko, tilted his head in confusion upon hearing the girl include honorifics in his name and looked towards Minato with a small growl, the boy merely shrugging in response. "Don't worry about it, Byakko. That's just how she talks to people."

Byakko gave a few more growls and light snarls, to which Minato shrugged again. "Don't ask me why. I don't control how people talk to others."

Hibari stared at the two. "Minato-chan, are you talking to the tiger?"

"Whoa! You can understand that thing?!" Katsuragi asked, looking quite impressed.

"Yeah, and he can understand you too, so I'd what I say around him if I were you." he replied, the White Tiger also growling in agreement.

Hanzō stared at the creature with surprise. "My word... Minato-kun, forgive me for for intruding, but did you refer to that as Byakko?"

Minato nodded in response while Asuka turned to her grandfather with a look of slight confusion. "What is it Jii-chan? Do you know about that tiger?"

"I do, actually." the Legendary Shinobi answered. "In Chinese mythology, he's said to be one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese Constellation that guards the four corners of the world along with the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise. The White Tiger represents the West, the season of autumn, and the element of metal."

The others listened to Hanzō's explanation before turning towards Byakko with looks of awe. The tiger must have felt quite proud at that as he proceeded to slightly puff out his chest with pride, much to Minato's amusement.

"Alright, that's enough boasts. Time to go back now, Byakko." the boy stated, which Byakko acknowledged as he then disappeared in a burst of blue light and returned to the Sea of Souls.

Katsuragi couldn't help but let out a whistle. "Gotta say, you're just full of surprises, Minato. Anything else you've got that you might wanna share?"

However, the blue-haired boy simply smirked in response. "I'll leave that to your imagination." He then checked the clock on his MP3 player and saw that it was almost time for him to head to work, so he looked up at the others. "Sorry, but I've gotta head out. Don't wanna be late for work."

After saying his goodbyes to the others, he was about ready to leave when he felt someone pull on him by the sleeve of his shirt, making him look back to see Asuka grabbing his sleeve.

"Asuka?"

"Hey, Minato-kun. Before you go, I just have one last thing to say." she spoke, getting Minato's attention. "I'm gonna get a lot stronger one day. I'm gonna keep on training until I master the Path of the Shinobi. And when that happens, please let me challenge Susano-o again!"

The boy was quite taken aback by her declaration, but he also couldn't deny that he sensed a lot of conviction in her words and her expression showed it as well.

"...Alright then. I'll be looking forward to it." he answered with a smile of determination. "But let me warn you ahead of time. Next time we fight, I'll be giving it my all."

Asuka returned the smile with her own, one filled with equal determination. "Hai! I won't hold anything back either!"

With that said, the two proceeded to shake hands, sealing the deal that once she got stronger, they would fight once again without restraint.

 _ ***CRACK***_

 _ **Thou art I... And I am thou...**_

 _ **Thou hast established a new bond...**_

 _ **It shalt further stretch your Universe**_

 _ **Thou shalt have our blessings when thou chooses**_

 _ **To create a Persona of the Magician Arcana...**_

Once again, Minato watched as time came to a brief stop and another Tarot Card with the number I on it appeared floating in front of him, representing the Magician Arcana. Seeing that Acana manifest from the bond he had established with Asuka made Minato smile again.

 _'You're not gonna give up until you reach your goal, huh Asuka? Heh, just like Kenji was. I wonder what he's up to now...'_

Once time returned to normal, Minato bid farewell to Asuka and the others again before heading off back towards the city feeling a lot more positive than before. Something told him that his new life in the world was going to be a lot more interesting.

Yet another side also left him feel a sense of foreboding for what other events may lie in the future.

* * *

 **Elsewhere:**

The masked figure clad in dark armor was standing in the same dimly lit Japanese-style room as before, this time with two girls kneeling down before her.

"Yomi has just informed me that she has made contact with one of the Hanzō Shinobi as well as the boy, Minato Arisato. It seems she was able to verify that this power he posses is just as Haruka claimed it to be. Therefore, I have decided to send the two of you next, but you are to remain cautious should either of you encounter him. Understood?"

One of the girls kneeling before her had pale skin with medium length hair and amber colored eyes that looked almost snake-like. She was dressed in a dingy torn up yellow and black stripped shirt with a snake patterned and black frill trim that was rather short, stopping at her bust line and showing a lot of cleavage. It also seemed to only properly cover one of her shoulders. Her blue jeans had gashes and tears, the zipper was left down and the grey and black belt around her waist was left unbuckled, with black leather constricts below the knees and a red snake pattern on the left thigh. She had thin necklaces around her neck, more leather constricts on her arms, and black snake tattoos on her left hip, shoulder and breast.

The second was shorter than the first with long black hair and red eyes, with the left one being covered by a black eye-patch with red tomoe on it. Her outfit appeared to be a Gothic Lolita fashion with a black, white and dark teal frilled dress and bonnet with cat ears, a cat tail, and what looked like black angel wings on her back.

The green-haired girl raised her head after listening to her superiors order and nodded with an emotionless expression on her face. "Acknowledged."

Next to her, the eye-patched girl flashed a dangerous smirk. "Looks like it's finally our turn, huh?"

* * *

 **(Ending Theme: Beauty of Destiny - Special Mix)**

* * *

 **Omake - Persona** **Compendium**

In a familiar looking velvet colored room with glass walls lined with velvet borders and divisions, a lone figure sat on a dark purple couch while sitting before a large round table covered with an equally-colored purple sheet. His long nose, pointed ears and bulging, bloodshot eyes along with his well-tailored black suit and white gloves almost immediately gave away his identity.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor greeted, "...is what I would usually say. However, today we are using the Velvet Room for a special purpose. As to what that purpose is, I will let these two explain."

At that moment, the glass walls to Igor's left and right started to pulse and ripple like water until two people suddenly appeared. Coming out of the right pane of glass that showed the large green expansive city that looked like Asakusa was a young teenage girl with hazel colored eyes and dark brown hair that was tied in a pony tail with a white ribbon. She wore a yellow vest over a white shirt, a green plaid skirt and a matching tie as well as black thigh-high socks with brown loafers. Her arms were also covered by a black and red guard with bandages underneath.

At the same time, coming from the left pane of glass, which showed a dark purple city resembling Port Island, was yet another girl with dark blue eyes and short blond hair held up with a metal black and gold head band and red and silver 'headphones' covering her ears. Her shoulder and hip joints were gold and appeared to be cybernetic while her body was white with a bright red ribbon around her neck. She even had drum magazines protruding from her forearms.

"Welcome to Persona Compendium!" both girls exclaimed in unison.

The brunette waved in greeting with a cheerful smile. "I'm Asuka!"

"I am Aigis." the blond added in a more robotic tone, though she too gave her own smile.

"And today we're gonna be featuring a Persona that Minato-kun will be summoning for the next chapter." Asuka explained.

Aigis nodded. "We will also be explaining the Persona's origin, Arcana, and battle specifications."

"Now that we've explained the Compendium, it's time to show our first Persona!" Asuka concluded before looking off to the side. "Do your thing, Minato-kun!"

Then, a spot light shined down towards the center of the room as the blue-haired Persona-user himself appeared standing between the two girls. With a nod, Minato, drew his Evoker and gave it a twirl, pointing the barrel towards his head.

"Persona!" A shot rang out as large figure with white hair, a light blue body and red eyes appeared hovering above Minato with a large white lyre attached to its back.

Asuka stared with amazement. "Oh! Looks like our first Persona is Orpheus, Minato-kun's first Persona!"

"Orpheus is a Persona of the Fool Arcana." Aigis explained. "According to Greek myth, he is the son of the Sun God Apollo and a great musician, but was known for failing to bring his dead wife back to life, having failed in his deal with the God of the Dead, Hades. Orpheus specializes in fire attacks and is a well-balanced fighter."

"Thanks, Aigis-chan!" the brunette said before looking back up at Orpheus. "You know, now that I look a bit closer at it, it does look a bit like Minato-kun. Guess that's to be expected from his first Persona."

She then noticed that Aigis was giving her a blank stare, making her feel a bit unnerved. "W-What is it?"

"Now that we're done here for today, I would like to inquire on your relationship with Minato-san."

"Eh?"

The android then pointed her hand towards Asuka as her fingertips opened up. "Depending on your answer, I just hope you didn't do anything inappropriate to him."

"Oh, come on! It's only our first Persona Compendium and you already look like you wanna shoot me!"

Minato could only shake his head with a sigh of exasperation. _'Something tells me I'm gonna be dealing with more of this in the future.'_

* * *

 **xxx(Social Link Ranks)xxx**

 **Hanzō Group - 0 The Fool (Rank 2)**

 **Asuka - I The Magician (Rank 1)**

 **Ikaruga - III The Empress (Rank 1)**

 **And cut! Jeez, this chapter took WAY more time to finish than I had originally hoped. Sorry to everyone for the wait, but I hope it was worth it! I sort of fell into a bit of writers block for a few months and with all the college work I had, I just didn't have the time nor the motivation to update, but thankfully my good friends Omnifiction and Recentreader325 have been giving me some really helpful and interesting ideas for the story, so I wanna thanks those two for all their help!**

 **Oh, while on that subject, big thanks to Recentreader325 for giving me the idea for the Persona Compendium omake. I wanted to have it serve as a funny way to tease a Persona Minato will be summoning in the next chapter, so expect the ending of each chapter to have one from now on.**

 **Also, if there's anyone reading this is also reading _Monsters and Devils_ , I'm gonna be working on updating that next, so stay tuned for when the next chapter of that story comes out. Again, big thanks to everyone who waited patiently and I'll see you all next time!**

* * *

 **Next Time: Seaside Training**


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